Space Group UK as part of Nisbets pie is the UK’s largest supplier of catering equipment. SPACE was established in 2000 on the basic principle of high-quality catering equipment, ethical design and great service. Our head office is based in Gloucester, with an office in York and permanent exhibition centre and development kitchen in Bristol.
We welcome the Modern Slavery Act and the requirements it places on business to publicly disclose what they are doing to tackle forced labour and human trafficking.
Integrity is one of our core values and being open and honest with our suppliers and customers are a key part of this. We value our relationships with all our suppliers along the supply chain and understand we are only as good as the workforce producing our products. We are committed to working closely with our suppliers and to working together to root out this crime.
All our suppliers are expected to meet our Ethical Trading Code of Conduct, which includes the provision that workers are free to choose their place of employment. Our Code is aligned with the Ethical Trading Initiatives base code, founded on the conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), and is an internationally recognised code of labour practice. We are transforming our supplier approval process such that all supplier sites need to register on Sedex (The Supplier Ethical Data Exchange). They must declare details of their labour practises before they can start to supply to us. Any sites assessed to have high risk are required to have an independent ethical audit.
We understand that Modern Slavery is a criminal activity, and the signs can be difficult to identify and that audits only reveal a limited amount of information. We are improving our understanding of the risks and are prioritising our CARE (Corrective Action Report – Ethical) plans accordingly. We are doing this by mapping and streamlining our supply chain and using a risk assessment tool developed by Maplecroft, experts in global risk analytics.
Our Ethical Trading Code of Conduct is prominent in our Colleague Handbook, we are developing our training program to include awareness of issues both in our international supply chains and closer to home in our temporary labour suppliers. We have brainstormed ideas with Unseen, a charity committed to working towards a world without slavery. Attended the Sedex conference where we met members from across the globe face-to-face, shared ideas and learned about the issues affecting responsible business. We plan to collaborate more with stakeholder groups that focus on social and environmental issues in the cultivation of natural resources such as timber and palm oil.
Modern Slavery is a global issue, but it is also happening in our communities. To combat this crime, we really need to understand our complex supply chains and need to collaborate with NGOs, business, suppliers and worker groups and improve traceability and transparency.
SPACE Group via its Parent company Nisbets is a member of Sedex. Sedex is home to one of the world’s largest collaborative platforms for buyers, suppliers and auditors to store, share and report on information quickly and easily. The platform is used by more than 40,000 members in over 150 countries to manage performance around labour rights, health & safety, the environment and business ethics.
Sedex is not a standard setting body and doesn’t approve or certify our policies and standards. Instead, being a member of Sedex is a sign of Nisbets’ willingness to share information and to use this information to help manage and improve ethical standards within the supply chain.
Ian Bidmead
Managing Director
1st July 2022
