Introduction
This statement is made pursuant to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the “Act”) and constitutes the slavery and human trafficking statement of British Business Bank plc (“BBB”) and its subsidiaries British Business Investments Limited, British Patient Capital Limited and the Start-up Loans Company Limited for the financial year ended 31 March 2023. References to “we”, “us” and “our” are to all of these companies, and references to the “BBB Group” are to BBB and its subsidiaries.
This statement highlights the key activities we have undertaken to combat the risk of modern slavery in our organisation and supply chain.
The BBB Group is committed to the abolition of modern slavery and human trafficking by creating a culture of transparency in relation to the supply of goods and services it receives from our suppliers, which are predominantly in the UK or other low risk countries.
The BBB Group has a centralised procurement function that operates in accordance with our Supplier Management Policy. This sets out the requirements for the BBB Group when procuring goods and services. We have identified where we consider risks of modern slavery may exist and incorporated the management of those risks within our procurement process. Our Supplier Management Policy is reviewed annually and reflects our expectation that our suppliers are taking appropriate steps to comply with the Act.
We have been raising awareness of modern slavery and human trafficking within the BBB Group and provide mandatory training for all our employees on an annual basis. We encourage any employees who do identify potential modern slavery issues within our business or supply chain to report their concerns in accordance with our whistle-blowing policy. No such issues were reported in the relevant financial year ending on 31 March 2023.
We will continue to work to raise awareness of modern slavery within the BBB Group by reviewing and evaluating the measures and processes that we have implemented so far to ensure their effectiveness.
Approval procedure
This statement, which will be reviewed annually and updated as required, has been reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors of British Business Bank plc on 14 September 2023.
Louis Taylor
Chief Executive Officer