Supplier Code of Conduct
Our Supplier Code of Conduct covers the key areas of legal compliance, business integrity, human rights, safety, health and the environment. The document explains clearly how we expect business to be conducted, what management controls and procedures should be in place, how we expect suppliers to treat employees and the types of record keeping required to provide total transparency. Mandatory compliance by suppliers with our Supplier Code of Conduct is included in our standard terms and conditions of purchase.
In 2024:
Zero
third-party compliance disclosures were made
100%
third-party compliance certification completion rate
- Third party due diligence
- Third party compliance training
All potential customers and suppliers are screened to ensure that they are not currently on any global sanctions or debarred lists. We also undertake due diligence on our agents, distributors and certain consultants (third-party representatives).
The level of due diligence conducted depends on risk factors such as the nature of the relationship with the third-party representative, territory of operation and business division. We put accounts on hold where there are any compliance related questions or concerns and only release them when the issues are resolved or will terminate contracts for compliance related reasons where necessary.
Supplier Performance
All medium and high risk third-party representatives are required to complete our online Anti-Bribery for Business Partners training course and an annual Anti-Corruption and Code of Conduct online compliance certification. If training or certification is not completed within a specified timeframe, we withhold approval for the appointment of that third-party representative or place their account on hold, meaning no sales orders can be processed or work commissioned. If training or certification is still not undertaken within a reasonable extension period, the relationship is terminated.
- Evaluating supplier performance
- Improving supplier performance
We have used EcoVadis to assess our key global suppliers since 2016. The platform enables us to rate the relative risk of suppliers against a database of over 150,000 global companies in over 185 countries. Our supplier evaluation process incorporates EcoVadis assessment scores into our procurement procedures and it is a requirement for all suppliers meeting agreed spend thresholds.
In 2024, we continued to promote the EcoVadis platform within our supply base. Over the course of the year, an additional 70 of our suppliers were assessed or joined the onboarding process, bringing the total to 356, representing 48% of our global spend.
Whilst we continue to onboard new accounts that meet our relevant criteria, we have shifted our primary focus to start targeting our lowest scoring or higher risk suppliers to help them better understand the output of the evaluation. This process involves liaising with both EcoVadis and the supplier to understand poor performance areas, and then implementing corrective action plans to improve their rating across the four pillars of the platform. As a result our average supplier score has now increased to 66.2% which remains significantly higher than the EcoVadis average of 46.7%.