Company Approach
Sutcliffe is a multi-disciplinary firm of Structural and Civil Engineers and has established a high standard of excellence in consulting over the past 37 years.
Sutcliffe has structural engineering at the core of our business and it was around structural engineering that the business was formed in 1985.
The practice was built up and continues to grow with offices in Liverpool, Manchester, North Wales and London. We can deliver projects across the country on the basis of providing excellence in all aspects of our service.
Our aim is to provide a service that ensures the delivery of projects on time and within budget. We work in partnership with design teams and in collaboration with main contractors and clients to establish clear and focused lines of communication and we work to common objectives to add value to the overall project delivery.
We have a strong quality assurance system supported by a strong management structure and hold ISO9001:2015, ISO14001:2015 and ISO45001:2018 & CHAS accreditations.
Sutcliffe approach to modern slavery is led by our main board of five directors who provide leadership from the top down across the company, they continually strive for best practice and lead by example. We ensure our policy is communicated throughout the company and our supply chain and becomes part of the way we work.
Our Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking 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.
We undertake all reasonable and practical steps to ensure that our standards are being implemented throughout the businesses of our suppliers and that relevant legislation and regulations are complied with. We will only trade with those who fully comply.
Company Delivery
We have in place a number of key policies which state how we operate and the steps taken to ensure we are a reputable and transparent organisation. These policies are viewed annually and updated to ensure that opportunities for improvement are identified and acted upon.
These policies include:
Corporate Social Responsibility
Employment and Recruitment
Anti Bribery
Equality and Diversity/Assessments
Whistleblowing
Social Value
In line with our policies and procedures we have a confidential “open door” approach for our team and stakeholders to report any concerns they have regarding potential ethics violations (including suspected instances of slavery) anywhere in our business or supply chain with the option of full anonymity.
Whilst our team are aware of our mechanisms to deal with any concerns, we have never had any in relation to modern slavery.
In addition, our team are encouraged to raise concerns to whomever they feel most comfortable – this may be a line manager or a trusted colleague – so as to ensure that any alleged unethical behaviour is investigated and dealt with in a timely and appropriate manner. Our Communications Director also supports employees in difficult work situations whether that’s within the company or from our supply chain.
Employment Practices
All our employees have a written contract of employment. The right to work in the UK is established prior to their employment starting. All employees are made aware of their statutory rights during the induction process. In addition we carry out right to work and pre-employment checks on all employees joining the company. The employee is to provide evidence that they own identification documents and that the bank account details belong to the employee and not a third party. Any discrepancies identified are investigated thoroughly and appropriate action taken.
Supply Chain Management
Our supply chain supports our business and enables us to provide services throughout the United Kingdom. To illustrate the breadth of our supply chain, it encompasses products and services from construction and engineering materials, plant machinery, personal protective equipment (PPE), through to IT hardware and software, recruitment agencies, training providers and a number of SME businesses. This range means that we consider our supply chain to be our primary area of risk from a human trafficking and modern slavery perspective.
Our clients require us to continue to progress innovation and efficiency as key drivers for delivery. We continue to pursue preferred supplier agreements with our strategic supply chain, developing and building on long-standing relationships and formalising agreements to the benefit of all parties.
As part of our commitment to identify and eradicate slavery and human trafficking, we have in place a process to undertake due diligence on our supply chain network to ensure compliance with legislative obligations, such compliance forms are part of our contractual relationship with suppliers and are required before formal engagement. We have a designated team who are responsible for these compliance forms ensuring they are completed, returned with supporting documentation and are checked and approved. All suppliers are required to annually renew our supplier compliance forms.
Summary
The Board of Directors are responsible for implementing this statement and providing adequate resources, training and investment to ensure that human trafficking and modern slavery is prevented from taking place within Sutcliffe or its supply chain.
This statement will be reviewed annually.