INTRODUCTION
Slavery and human trafficking remains a hidden blight on our global society. We all have a responsibility to be alert to the risks, however small, in our business and in the wider supply chain. Staff are expected to report concerns and management are expected to act upon them.
ORGANISATION’S STRUCTURE
Blackpool Pleasure Beach Ltd is a family owned amusement park established in 1896, located on the Lancashire coast. It is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the United Kingdom, and one of the top twenty most visited amusement parks in the world. Ocean Boulevard II Ltd trades as the Big Blue Hotel, Blackpool and is an associated company of Blackpool Pleasure Beach Ltd. Ocean Boulevard III Ltd trades as the Boulevard Hotel, Blackpool, and is linked to Blackpool Pleasure Beach Ltd.
OUR PEOPLE
Our people are our most valuable asset. We have a permanent establishment of approximately 250 and we also engage temporary staff, the number of which varies depending upon business demand. All staff are subject to proper enquiries carried out by our HR department to ensure that they have a legal right to work in the UK.
COVID-19
Whilst the pandemic caused by Covid 19 has materially impacted upon our trading activities, and caused a periodic shift in working patterns, we have maintained due diligence in accordance with this Statement to mitigate against risks associated with Slavery and Human Trafficking.
OUR BUSINESS
Our business is organised into a number of units: Retail, Catering, Entertainment, Engineering, Hotels, IT, Purchasing, Sales, Education, HR and Security.
PROCUREMENT
Our supply chain is extremely diverse and includes the sourcing of ride parts, retail items, catering supplies, along with IT and stationery supplies. Procurement is centrally led and locally implemented.
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.
This Statement 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 –
- Where possible we build long standing relationships with our local suppliers and make clear our expectations of business behaviour.
- With regard to national and international supply chains, our point of contact is preferably with a UK company or branch and we expect these entities to have suitable anti-slavery and human trafficking policies and processes. We expect each entity in the supply chain to, at least, adopt ‘one up’ due diligence on the next link in the chain. It is not practical for us (and every other participant in the chain) to have a direct relationship with all links in the supply chain.
- We have in place systems to encourage the reporting of concerns and the protection of whistle blowers.
SUPPLIER ADHERENCE TO OUR VALUES
We recognise that we have a responsibility to take a robust approach to slavery and human trafficking. We have a zero tolerance approach and expect all those in our supply chain and contractors comply with our values.
The appropriate directors are responsible for compliance in their respective departments and for their supplier relationships.
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 staff. All Directors have been briefed on the subject. An online video created by the GLAA (Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority) showing the right way to respond to suspicions of exploitation is being included in our 2023 company induction.
OUR EFFECTIVENESS IN COMBATING SLAVERY AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING
We use the following key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure how effective we have been to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in any part of our business or supply chains:
- Regularly assess our current supply chain, especially those suppliers we do business with whose production is in high slavery-risk countries (India, China, Bangladesh, and Thailand). We now have circa 300 Suppliers signed up to the Code of Conduct, and continue to build on this number with each new supplier we engage. We are continue to require existing high risk suppliers to re-sign the Code of Conduct document.
- Closely monitor the hiring of staff and usage of agency staff.
- Have a level of communication and personal contact with the next link in the supply chain and their understanding of, and compliance with, our expectations for the most high risk suppliers.
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 financial year end 20th March 2022.
Nigel Kilgallon
Group Legal Counsel & Director
Blackpool Pleasure Beach Limited/Ocean Boulevard II Ltd/Ocean Boulevard III Ltd
