Governance

We have implemented effective systems to advocate our zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption. To ensure we only work with third parties whose standards are consistent with our own, all agents and distributors are obliged by written agreement to comply with the standards set out in the Code of Conduct, which can be found in the Policies tab on this page.

We are fully committed to respecting the human rights of all those working with or for us. We do not accept any form of child or forced labour and we will not do business with any party who fails to uphold these standards. We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and are committed to acting with integrity in all business dealings and relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective measures to ensure modern slavery is not taking place in the business or its supply chains. Our Modern Slavery Act Statement is available in the Policies tab on this page.

We have many forms of training materials and policies in place, both in person and online, to embed the ethics and integrity requirement across the Company. We always investigate alleged violations and take the necessary action.

We do not use conflict minerals, such as tin, tungsten or gold, that originate from countries whose natural resources include minerals that are high in demand and are either suffering from armed-conflict or witnessing weak or non-existent governance and systematic violations of international law, including human rights abuses.

We have policies and mandatory online training in place for all employees to avoid all forms of data breaches of confidential information. Mandatory information security training is also delivered throughout the year to all employees. This includes completing online courses on protecting personal and sensitive data and how to recognise social engineering attacks.

Product safety and quality is at the core of all our business practices. The majority of our products are approved to customer or industry safety standards which involves rigorous testing. Our production employees receive mandatory product safety training and all our products undergo internal safety and quality testing programmes. Where standards require, external safety audits are conducted on our products.

We seek to ensure diversity in the composition of our Board; gender diversity, ethnic and social backgrounds, and personal skills.

Female representation across our Executive Board and direct reports is 21% and we are committed to improving this in the future. Across all employees, we have achieved a ratio of 42% (420 out of 995) female and 58% (575 out of 995) male.

You can find more details of our Board composition in our Annual Report and Accounts.