The CBI Modern Slavery Statement

The Modern Slavery Act came into effect in October 2015 and requires businesses in the UK (having annual turnover of £36m or more) to disclose information regarding the steps they have taken to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their business and supply chain.

The CBI is committed to acting ethically and with integrity and although our turnover is below the £36m threshold, we have taken steps to ensure that modern slavery is not taking place anywhere in our organisation or within our wider supply chain.

CBI overview and structure

The CBI is a Royal Charter organisation with 150+ employees based in 10 offices across the UK and in Brussels

In terms of corporate governance, operational and strategic issues are the responsibility of the CBI Board, chaired by the CBI President and supported by an Audit Committee and a Remuneration Committee.

While day to day running of the CBI is led by the Director-General and the CBI Executive Committee. For more information, you can see who sits on our Executive Committee and the CBI Board on our website and more information on our governance in the About Us section.

This policy is reviewed annually by the CBI Audit Committee and led by the Chief Financial & Operations Officer at the CBI.

Approach to Modern Slavery

From a previous review of CBI suppliers, it is estimated that all our active suppliers, totalling approximately 800 businesses, are low to medium risk given the country and context of operation, the type of organisation, our knowledge of the supplier and our level of spend.

As a professional services organisation our largest suppliers are engaged in the provision of services to support our staff and offices. Staff services include both direct costs (benefits such as pensions and health insurance) and indirect costs (such as IT provision and recruitment agencies). Office costs include rent, rates and services such as cleaning and catering). The other significant type of supplier is for our events, such as large hotels or venues and digital platforms.

The CBI manages procurement through an internal procurement policy for CBI staff dependant on the level of spend undertaken and has a code of conduct for all suppliers which can be found on our website.

The CBI can confirm that all suppliers to our London, Cannon Place office pay their staff, at minimum, the London Living Wage.

Audit of procurement process: In October 2021, the CBI auditors, Buzzacott LLP were commissioned to conduct an audit of the CBI’s procurement process, practices and procedures. This audit focussed on looking at examples of procurement within the CBI and examining their due diligence checks performed, tendering processes, financial authorisations, and use of internal systems as well as the promotion of the CBI’s supplier code of conduct to those suppliers.

Learning from the procurement audit: The CBI in 2022 used the results of the audit as a basis to improve and strengthen its approach to procurement. The audit highlighted several areas that could be improved including around staff awareness of the policies in place, training on procurement process, consolidation and central monitoring of contracts and emphasis on promoting the CBI’s supplier code of conduct.