Transparency Statement 2022
Diploma PLC supports fully the principles and provisions set out in the Modern Slavery Act (“the Act”).
The Board of Diploma PLC is committed to identifying Modern Slavery risks across its businesses and supply chain which include, slavery, human trafficking, child labour and forced/compulsory labour (together “Modern Slavery”) and to ensuring that there is no Modern Slavery either within its businesses or within its principal supply chains.
Regulatory demands upon Diploma PLC and its subsidiaries (the “Group”) vary considerably around the world and as a decentralised set of businesses, the Board has allocated responsibility to local senior management teams, under the direction of Executive Management, to ensure that each trading subsidiary is fully compliant with both the Modern Slavery Act and any applicable local anti-slavery requirements.
Our business and structure
Diploma PLC is an international group of businesses supplying specialised technical products and services to the Life Sciences, Seals and Controls industries. The Group employs ca. 3,000 employees and its principal operating businesses are located in the UK, Northern Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia.
The Life Sciences businesses supply a range of consumables, instrumentation and related services to the healthcare and environmental industries. The Seals businesses supply a range of seals, gaskets, filters, cylinders, components and kits used in heavy mobile machinery and specialised industrial equipment. The Controls businesses supply specialised wiring, cable, connectors, fasteners and control devices used in a range of technically demanding applications.
Further information on Diploma PLC and its businesses are set out in the Annual Report & Accounts which is published on the Company’s website: https://www.diplomaplc.com/
Our approach to the Act
The Group has a culture of respect, accountability and continuous improvement and requires that employees act fairly in their dealings with all stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, fellow employees and business partners.
In 2017, Diploma first completed a Group-wide review of principal suppliers designed to ensure that no suppliers were involved in Modern Slavery. These suppliers were largely based in countries with a lower risk of Modern Slavery and in many cases were international groups of businesses with their own commitment to prevent Modern Slavery.
The Group’s businesses continue to carry out due diligence on existing suppliers, and prior to engaging with major suppliers, due diligence and vetting procedures are carried out to ensure that suppliers meet the Group’s required standards. The Group businesses have adopted a risk-based and proportionate approach to assess the risk of Modern Slavery among major suppliers, based on country of manufacture of goods procured. Where a potential new supplier fails to meet the Group’s policy in relation to Modern Slavery, the Group will not work with these suppliers until they have amended their policies appropriately to meet the Group’s standards. No instances of non-compliance with the Group’s Modern Slavery policies have been identified to date.
In addition, the Group operates a “Whistleblowing” policy through an established independent third-party whistleblowing hotline, which allows colleagues in any of the Group’s businesses to raise concerns confidentially, anonymously and independent of their business in relation to any concerns, including Modern Slavery. It is mandatory that the Group’s Whistleblowing policy and posters are displayed in every place of business, so every colleague is aware of the Whistleblowing process.
Diploma businesses actively manage their supply chains to ensure good levels of inventory and supply. It is our aim as a group to further develop our understanding of our supply chains and harmonise the approach to supplier due diligence across our businesses. We have a Group Supply Chain Policy which addresses both ethical and environmental issues, as well as a Supplier Code, based on the adherence to certain standards of human rights, labour laws and environmental responsibility. In 2022, we published our Group Code of Conduct, which highlights and reinforces our standards, policies and procedures around various topics including supplier engagement and management.
During the forthcoming year our businesses will continue to focus on engaging with key suppliers on key tenets of our Supplier Code and establishing preferred supplier standards. We will also be updating our ethical training programmes, introducing focused Modern Slavery training via our internal learning portal. This will help our colleagues to recognise and understand potential Modern Slavery issues and take appropriate action.
The Chief Executive Officer will continue to lead this important agenda for the Group and Diploma PLC will report next year on further steps that have been taken in the current year to maintain robust policies on Modern Slavery.
This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes Diploma Group’s modern slavery statement for 2022.
This statement was approved by the Board of Diploma PLC on 21 March 2023 and signed on its behalf by:
Johnny Thomson
Chief Executive Officer
Diploma PLC
21 March 2023