Introduction
Global is committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships and to ensuring that modern slavery and human trafficking does not take place in our business. This statement sets out the steps we took in our last financial year to address the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our organisation and supply chains.
This statement is made on behalf of Global Media & Entertainment Limited (company number: 6251684), the Global group parent company, and its UK subsidiary companies.
Our business
The Global group of companies is one of the world’s leading media and entertainment groups incorporating radio, outdoor advertising and our digital advertising platform, DAX. Global has over 2000 employees worldwide and operates in the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain, the USA and Canada.
Our supply chain and due diligence
Global’s supply chain includes a wide variety of suppliers and third-party contractors across our different business lines. Our key suppliers for the financial year ending March 2024 supplied us with goods and services in the following areas:
• outdoor advertising inventory
• contractor services including construction, fixing and maintenance
• outdoor advertising collateral design, production and print
• radio transmission and distribution
• events and broadcasting services
• property and facilities management
• professional and consultancy advisory
• IT/ technology
We recognise that the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking are highest in our outdoor advertising operations where we engage third-party contractors in relation to the construction, maintenance and posting of advertisements on outdoor advertising sites across the UK which include roadside locations, airports, national rail and London Underground networks and transport assets including trains, buses and trams. Our contractors work in potentially hazardous environments, often at night.
Global chooses to work with suppliers that meet our own high business standards. We partner with Alcumus Safecontractor to help assess the health and safety, compliance and ethics of our suppliers. We are RISQS accredited and our subcontractors who work for us on rail networks also go through RISQSaudits, which include slavery and human rights assessments.
In addition to the due diligence which is conducted, our standard supply contracts require our suppliers to comply with all applicable laws, including the Modern Slavery Act 2015, and our Supplier Code of Conduct, which includes provisions designed to ensure ethical employment practices within our supply chains.
Our policies on slavery and human trafficking
We recognise that respecting human rights is fundamental to operating a sustainable international business. We have a strong internal policy framework that includes equality, inclusion and health and safety policies designed to protect our staff and people working in our supply chain.
Global has an Anti-slavery and Human Trafficking Policy. This sets out our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships and to ensuring that modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our own business or in any of our supply chains. It also sets out Global’s core principles regarding the protection of workers from slavery and human trafficking.
We also have a whistleblowing policy, grievance policy and other support channels that together encourage our employees to speak up if they have any concerns about our workplace practices. Global has a whistleblowing line that employees and contractors can use to report unlawful behaviour in the workplace.
Training
To ensure understanding of the risks of slavery and human trafficking in our business and supply chains we provide online training to our Outdoor Operations team. It explains what modern slavery is and highlights the signs that team members should look out for and what to do if they are concerned. The training is completed by managers in our Outdoor Operations team who deal with our Outdoor suppliers and their workforces on a daily basis, to ensure that they in particular are aware of the risks.
Our next steps
Following a review of the effectiveness of the steps we have taken in our last financial year to ensure that there is no slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains, we intend to take the following further steps:
• Continue to review internal processes and procedures to ensure effectiveness in combating slavery and human trafficking, particularly within our outdoor and entertainment event supply chains
• Conduct health and safety, ethics and compliance due diligence on suppliers via our selected partner, Alcumus Safecontractor
• Provide training and information highlighting the risks of modern slavery to wider employee and contractor groups
This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes Global’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 31 March 2024. It was approved by the board on 27 September 2024.
Ben Porter, CFO
Global Media & Entertainment
31 March 2024