Modern Slavery Act Company Statement June 2024
Batt Cable Ltd - Modern Slavery Act Company Statement June 2024
Modern Slavery Act Company Statement
Batt Cables Limited
Introduction from the CPO
We, Batt Cables Limited, are committed to improving our practices to combat slavery and human trafficking in our business and supply chain. We will ensure that our Operational Board and Senior Managers are trained to recognise the signs of Modern Slavery and understand the risks within the supply chain. We are also committed to carrying out a risk assessment of our supply chain to identify any areas needing further monitoring. We comply with all requests for information and work closely with our Suppliers and Customers to maintain positive relationships.
Organisation's structure
We are a market leader in the specialist supply, management and distribution of electrical cables and accessories. BATT is a cable distributor that serves both wholesalers and direct customers in the UK and internationally. Established in 1952, the company has continually adapted to meet the electrical cable needs of the oil and gas, petrochemical, marine, offshore, construction and energy industries. We have over 290 employees worldwide and operate in UK, Ireland, Europe, Asia, North America and Mexico.
In September 2023, Batt Cables was acquired by Chiltern Capital. This change has brought about increased due diligence and a focus on implementing risk management in areas such as Modern Slavery in the Supply Chain.
With the introduction of a new Board of Directors, this work is ongoing but is a high priority for the Board and additional Human Resources are in place to provide focus on risk management.
Our supply chains
Our suppliers manufacture cable for global distribution. BATT has five key suppliers that accounted for 70% of purchases in FY23, and these suppliers are based in Italy, Egypt and Turkey, although we also purchase from other countries. Batt Cables has extremely successful and long standing relationships with our Suppliers allowing collaborative and open communications.
Our policies on slavery and human trafficking
We are developing the appropriate policies to underpin our commitment to ensure that we mitigate modern slavery or human trafficking risks in our supply chains or in any part of our business.
Our Anti-Slavery 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 supply chains.
Due diligence processes for slavery and human trafficking
As part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk we have in place systems to:
- Identify and assess potential risk areas in our supply chains.
- Mitigate the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our supply chains.
- Monitor potential risk areas in our supply chains.
- Protect whistle blowers.
Supplier adherence to our values
We have zero tolerance to slavery and human trafficking. To ensure all those in our supply chain and contractors comply with our values, we have in place a supply chain compliance programme. This consists of completing all due diligence prior to engaging with new suppliers, as well as ensuring compliance with any due diligence requests from our Customers.
We have a dedicated compliance team, which consists of representatives from the following departments:
- Finance
- Operations
- Human Resources
- Procurement.
- Sales
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 provide training to relevant members of our staff. In 2024 we have already received third party legal training in Anti Bribery and Corruption and Anti Competition Law. 100% of the Board and Senior Leadership Team as well as Sales and Procurement Teams have undertaken this training.
Our effectiveness in combating slavery and human trafficking
Following a review of the effectiveness of the steps we are taking to ensure that there is no slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains we intend to take the following further steps to combat slavery and human trafficking:
We will complete a supply chain mapping exercise to assess the risks of Modern Slavery within our supply chain.
We will collaborate with suppliers to implement a Code of Conduct for Suppliers and confirm their commitment to adhering to our policies.
Take steps to mitigate any identified risks to ensure that we are not only compliant but implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights.
This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending April 2025. It was approved by the board on 17th April 2025.
Clare Hughes
Chief People Officer on behalf of the Operational Board
Batt Cables Limited
Date: 25.06.24