MODERN SLAVERY STATEMENT
This statement is made pursuant to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act
2015 and sets out the steps that Designers Guild has taken and is
continuing to take to ensure that modern slavery or human trafficking is
not taking place within our business or supply chain.
Modern slavery encompasses slavery, servitude, human trafficking and forced
labour. Designers Guild has a zero-tolerance approach to any form of modern
slavery. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity and
transparency in all business dealings and to putting effective systems and
controls in place to safeguard against any form of modern slavery taking
place within the business or our supply chain.
Our Business
Designers Guild is a luxury home furnishing company that designs,
distributes and markets furnishing fabrics, wallcoverings, upholstery and
home accessories Worldwide. The company is based in London with design
studios in Head Office as well as a distribution centre and retail
premises. It also has offices and showrooms in over 60 countries and
customer service centres in London, Munich, Paris and New York.
Product design and development is done inhouse and is produced by a range
of manufacturers based in the UK and overseas.
Our Policies
We operate a number of internal policies to ensure that we are conducting
business in an ethical and transparent manner. These include:
1. Anti-slavery policy. This policy sets out Designers Guild’s stance on
modern slavery and explains how suppliers and employees can identify any
instances of this and where they can go for help.
2. Code of business conduct. This code explains the manner in which we
behave as an organisation and how we expect our employees and suppliers to
act.
3. Recruitment policy. We operate a robust recruitment policy, including
conducting eligibility to work in the UK checks for all employees to
safeguard against human trafficking or individuals being forced to work
against their will.
4. A whistle blowing policy.
Our Partnerships
We pride ourselves on the honest, open and collaborative relationships we
have with our suppliers. We source products from around the world but only
deal with suppliers who have a similar ethical ethos to ourselves, often
favouring larger mills that can support proper working conditions. We also
subscribe to SEDEX, a global non-profit organisation for sharing
responsible data on supply chains.
All new suppliers are subject to an assessment by ourselves before we
commit to any transactions, including an online search to ensure that the
particular company has never been convicted of offenses relating to modern
slavery. Our Ethical policy forms part of our contract with suppliers and
they are required to confirm that no part of their business operations
contradicts this policy.
We often further follow up with site visits to strengthen our understanding
and to allow us to accurately risk assess.
The Future
We are constantly reviewing our procedures to ensure that we continue to
monitor both our own organisation and our supply chains to guarantee that
our business follows the ethical policy that we as a company subscribe to.
Approval for this statement
This statement was approved by the Board of Directors, April .

Simon Jeffreys
Chief Executive