Modern Slavery Statement

Introduction

We, The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), understand that modern slavery and human trafficking represents some of the gravest violations of human rights and that risks are present in every sector and country. We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and human trafficking of any kind in our operations and supply chain, and are committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in our corporate activities and supply chains.

Our business structure

Our purpose is to bridge the gap between academia and the UK industrial sectors and advance UK and global manufacturing capability by solving the industrial problems that others cannot or will not. We collaborate with universities, SMEs and large organisations across a broad range of technologies and sectors.

We are a company limited by guarantee based in the United Kingdom. We are the parent company of the MTC Group (we have two fully owned affiliates: ‘MTC Operations Limited’ and ‘MTC (Manufacturing Technology Centre) Training Limited’). The MTC Group has over 870 employees.

Our supply chains

Our operations and procurement activities take place within the United Kingdom and our contractors and suppliers are predominately UK and EU based.

We consider the risk of human trafficking occurring within our direct employee population, business operations and tier one supply chain to be low due to the following factors:

There is limited direct and supply chain operations in countries with a high prevalence of modern slavery;
The highly skilled nature of activities and roles reduces our exposure to temporary or low skilled agency employment; and
The strict application of our group policies and processes.

Our policies on slavery and human trafficking

We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business. Our Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in our business or supply chains.

We also maintain effective policies which underpin the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, including Anti-Corruption & Bribery, Ethics, Whistleblowing, and Procurement policies, all of which are easily accessible to our staff and are reviewed on a regular basis.

Risk mitigation for slavery and human trafficking

We evaluate the nature and extent of exposure to, and risk of modern slavery or human trafficking occurring in our business and supply chains. As part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk of modern slavery occurring across our business and in our supply chains we have:

Introduced into our procurement process a requirement for our suppliers to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015;
Ensured that our general terms and conditions we use when procuring services require that our suppliers comply with all laws and rules which extends to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and other legislation that prevents modern slavery and human trafficking;
Ensured that we operate a vigorous recruitment policy, including right to work in the UK checks, preventing human trafficking or individuals being forced to work against their will;
Reviewed our pay scales to ensure that all employees are paid at least the relevant minimum wage and have the right to work in the United Kingdom;
Established a maintained Whistleblowing Policy available in our business management systems, which allows employees to raise concerns confidentially internally to MTC’s designated Whistleblowing Officer

In addition to the above procedures we have in place, we will:

Identify and assess potential risk areas in our supply chains;
Monitor potential risk areas in our supply chains if they become apparent; and
Protect whistleblowers.

Supplier adherence to our values

To ensure that our supply chains comply with our values, our suppliers are required to complete a questionnaire (at the onboarding stage and every two years afterwards) and state whether they are compliant with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. In addition, all suppliers that accept our terms and conditions are required to comply with all applicable laws, including with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Training

To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains and our business, we highlight the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking to our staff on joining the business.

Further Steps

We will continue to review the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking and will report progress to the Board of Directors.
We will also look to train our staff in identifying modern slavery or human trafficking.
We will act promptly where an issue with compliance with this statement has been flagged or identified.

Victoria Sanderson
Chief People Officer - Human Resources
The Manufacturing Technology Centre Limited
Date: December 2024