Modern Slavery Statement

Introduction

We, The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) understand that modern slavery and human trafficking represent some of the gravest violations of human rights and that risks are present in every sector and country. We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and human trafficking of any kind in our operations and supply chain and are committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in our corporate activities and supply chains.

Our business structure

Our purpose is to bridge the gap between academia and the UK industrial sectors and advance UK and global manufacturing capability by solving the industrial problems that others cannot or will not. We collaborate with universities, SMEs and large organisations across a broad range of technologies and sectors.

We are a company limited by guarantee based in the United Kingdom. We are the parent company of the MTC Group (we have two fully owned affiliates: ‘MTC Operations Limited’ and ‘MTC (Manufacturing Technology Centre) Training Limited’). The group has over 900 employees.

Our supply chains

Our operations and supply chain activities take place within the United Kingdom and our contractors and suppliers are predominantly UK and EU based. Any non-UK purchases are to support research and development projects and thus are for specific machines and parts not available in the UK. There is no procurement of overseas labour or items traditionally produced using unethical methods, such as food or apparel.

We consider the risk of human trafficking occurring within our direct employee population, business operations and tier one supply chain to be low due to the following factors:

There is very limited direct and supply chain operations in countries with a high prevalence of modern slavery;
The highly skilled nature of activities and roles reduces our exposure to temporary or low skilled agency employment; and
The strict application of our group policies and processes, which identifies during the onboarding assessment whether any potential suppliers breach the Modern Slavery Act.

In addition to our existing commitments, we uphold the following principles as part of our zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery:

Adherence to all applicable local and national laws and regulations.
Respect for the freedom of workers to terminate employment without penalty.
Assurance of freedom of movement for all workers.
Respect for freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining.
Prohibition of any threat of violence, harassment, or intimidation in the workplace.
Prohibition of worker-paid recruitment fees.
Prohibition of compulsory or forced overtime.
Prohibition of child labour in any part of our operations or supply chain.
Prohibition of discrimination in hiring, compensation, access to training, promotion, termination, or retirement.
Prohibition of the confiscation or withholding of workers’ original identification documents.
Provision of access to remedy, compensation, and justice for victims of modern slavery.

In consideration of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, we have the following KPIs in place:

Staff undergo annual training and continued toolbox talks on modern slavery.
Maintaining a robust system for supply chain verification.
Scheduled reviews of our existing supply chains.

Our policies on slavery and human trafficking

We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business. Our Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking 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 business or supply chains.

We also maintain effective policies which underpin the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, including Anti-Corruption & Bribery, Ethics, Whistleblowing, Bullying & Harassment Policy, Diversity & Inclusion Policy, Recruitment & Selection Policy, and Procurement policies, all of which are easily accessible to our staff and are reviewed on a regular basis.

Risk mitigation for slavery and human trafficking

We continuously check and evaluate the nature and extent of exposure to and risk of modern slavery or human trafficking occurring in our business and supply chains. We are a research organisation operating across a diverse range of sectors and we do not routinely manufacture production items, meaning that we have a wide-ranging supplier base across multiple sectors, that is predominantly UK based. As part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk of modern slavery occurring across our business and in our supply chains we have:

A requirement for our suppliers to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Ensured that our general terms and conditions we use when procuring services require that our suppliers comply with all laws and rules which extends to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and other legislation that prevents modern slavery and human trafficking;
A due diligence procedure in place that enables us to identify, monitor and assess potential risk areas in our supply chains;
Ensured that we operate a rigorous recruitment policy, including right to work in the UK checks, preventing human trafficking or individuals being forced to work against their will;
Reviewed our pay scales to ensure that all employees are paid at least the relevant minimum wage and have the right to work in the United Kingdom;
An established Whistleblowing Policy available in our business management system, which allows employees to raise concerns confidentially internally to MTC’s designated Whistleblowing Officer; and
A commitment to protect whistleblowers

As an equal opportunities employer, we're committed to creating and ensuring a non-discriminatory and respectful working environment for our staff. We want all our staff to feel confident that they can expose wrongdoing without any risk to themselves.

Our recruitment and people management processes are designed to ensure that all prospective employees are legally entitled to work in the UK and to safeguard employees from any abuse or coercion.

We do not enter into business with any organisation, in the UK or abroad, which knowingly supports or is found to be involved in slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour.

Supplier adherence to our values

To ensure that our supply chains comply with our values, our suppliers are required to complete a questionnaire (at the onboarding stage and every 2 years afterwards) and state whether they are compliant with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Any non-compliance would immediately disqualify that supplier from becoming an MTC supplier.

In addition, all suppliers that accept our terms and conditions are required to comply with all applicable laws, including the Modern Slavery Act 2015. Again, any refusal to do so would result in an immediate disqualification and the supplier would either not be onboarded, or if already set-up, placed on hold preventing any further business transactions with them.

Training

To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains all colleagues in the supply chain department undertake externally provided annual modern slavery training, and across our wider business we have highlighted the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking to our colleagues on joining the business.

Further Steps

We will continue to review the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking and will report progress to the Board of Directors.

We will also look to train our staff in identifying modern slavery or human trafficking and include modern slavery within our induction process for all new employees.

We will act promptly where an issue with compliance with this statement has been flagged or identified.

We will not knowingly support or deal with any business that are involved with slavery or human trafficking, and we undertake responsibility for implementing this Policy Statement and its objectives. Subsequently, any employee who breaches this policy will face disciplinary action, which may result in dismissal for misconduct or gross misconduct. We also reserve the right to terminate our relationship with other individuals and organisations that may be working on our behalf, if they breach this policy statement.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our Group’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 2025/2026. This statement has been reviewed by senior management and is subject to final approval by the Board of Directors.