Introduction
This statement is made pursuant to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It constitutes Dragon Argent's slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ended 31 March 2019. This statement covers the activities of Dragon Argent which provide professional services in legal, Corporate and People matters to small and medium-size businesses.
Our Commitment
Dragon Argent acknowledges its responsibilities under the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and is committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking within its own businesses and in its supply chains. The business understands that this requires an ongoing review of both its internal practices in relation to its labour force and its supply chains.
We have a zero tolerance policy towards modern slavery. We will refrain from entering into business, and/or will discontinue any current business with any other organisation which knowingly supports or is found to involve itself in slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour.
Definitions
Dragon Argent considers that modern slavery encompasses:
1. Human trafficking;
2. Forced work, through mental or physical threat;
3. Being owned or controlled by an employer through mental or physical abuse or the threat of abuse;
4. Being dehumanised, treated as a commodity or being bought or sold as property;
5. Being physically constrained or to have a restriction placed on freedom of movement.
Our Supply Chain
Dragon Argent is committed to continuously improving its practices to identify and eliminate any slavery and human trafficking in its business and supply chains, and to acting ethically and with integrity in all its business relationships.
Dragon Argent uses a small range of suppliers who supply goods for sale, provide services at events and support our operations.
Policies
Dragon Argent has provided policies which aim to minimise the risk of modern slavery in our business. These include:
Corporate Social Responsibility Statement which defines our commitment to being a socially engaged and ethical. We actively mitigate risks and take our commitment to our corporate social responsibility programme very seriously; and
Whistleblowing Policy which encourages staff to report concerns or wrongdoing which is in the public interest, including any related to modern slavery/trafficking and child or forced labour.
Due Diligence
We continue to monitor suppliers we believe present high modern slavery risks in our supply chain.
All suppliers which we class as high risk must:
complete our Modern Slavery Act Due Diligence Questionnaire which covers their governance, policies, training and supply chain management processes; and
Dragon Argent is responsible for assessing the information submitted by suppliers. Should a supplier fail to provide the information requested or to meet our expectations, Dragon Argent will take appropriate action, which may include not entering into a relationship or terminating the relationship with the supplier concerned.
Training
We continue to provide advice and guidance to those teams who have direct responsibility for relevant supply chains and upon commencement of employment in further modern slavery training. We also maintain a Modern Slavery Act Guidance document which is available to all staff on our centralised database. All staff are made aware of the business policies relating to standards of behaviour that it requires from them and who to report any concerns to.
Looking Ahead
Over the course of the next financial year, we will continue to enhance our procedures to help us identify, prevent and mitigate any risks of modern slavery or human trafficking in relation to new and existing suppliers.
Approval
This statement has been formally approved by the Directors of Dragon Argent:
James Phipson, Managing Director
James Kearns, General Counsel