Women in Finance Charter
Corporate Responsibility
Ecclesiastical is pleased to be one of the founding signatories of the Women in Finance Charter.
Modern Slavery Act statement for 2024
01 August 2024
The legal entities this statement refers to:
In this statement, the ‘Group’ refers to Benefact Group plc together with its subsidiaries.
The Group is committed to preventing acts of modern slavery and human trafficking from occurring within both its business and supply chains and expects those same high standards from its suppliers.
Opening statement from senior management
"Increasing scrutiny of supply chains is good for business. It ensures businesses are fully aware of exactly who they are working with and how they are conducting themselves and it gives consumers the confidence that the business community is collectively setting higher standards. We expect high standards of responsible business from our own business and we expect no less from the partners we choose to work with. We’re committed to continually improve the standards and practice in our supply chains."
Structure of organisation
The Group is a specialist financial services group providing insurance, broking and advisory and investment products and services. The business is predominantly UK-based with overseas operations in Canada, Australia and Ireland. Over 2,000 people are directly employed.
In 2023, the Group reported a profit before tax of £34.4m. Find out more about our business and the Group in our Annual Report & Accounts 2023/Benefact Group.
Our UK supply chain is managed centrally by a team of procurement specialists within our Finance and Claims departments. Supply chain relationships for our overseas businesses are managed locally.
Policies, due diligence and risk
The Group expects and requires that each of its suppliers conduct business in a lawful and ethical manner. We have a Procurement Policy and an Outsourcing Policy which we adhere to in order to ensure all suppliers, whether they are being centrally or locally managed, go through the appropriate checks and scrutiny so that they are aware of and subscribe to our expectations, standards and procedures.
Specifically relevant to our compliance with the Act we:
- Include modern slavery risk as part of our due diligence at renewal for all relevant suppliers.
- Specifically include modern slavery risk as part of our due diligence for all UK claims suppliers.
- Ask new suppliers if they match our commitment to pay the Living Wage.
And in our responsible and sustainable investment business, EdenTree, we:
- Continue to include ‘Human Rights’ and ‘Employment & Labour’ as two of our key responsibility/ESG criteria.
- Support a range of initiatives to influence business behaviour. This included signing a collaborative letter sent in association with the Anti-Slavery Commissioner to a number of companies regarding their Modern Slavery Statements and signing an investor statement supporting Modern Slavery legislation in Canada.
As a provider of financial services, we do not operate in a sector which we consider to be particularly susceptible to modern slavery practices such as forced labour or exploitation for example, nor do we purchase goods or services from organisations which we would associate with modern slavery or human trafficking.
Nevertheless, we regularly evaluate the nature and extent of our exposure to risk in our supply chain and modern slavery will be included in that evaluation going forward.
Sign off
This statement is made in accordance with Section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes the Group's slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year commencing 1 January 2023 and ending 31 December 2023.
Mark Hews
Group Chief Executive