Modern slavery and human trafficking remain serious violations of fundamental human rights and can occur in all sectors, including within domestic supply chains.
This statement sets out the steps taken by Highland Fuels (“the Company”) during the financial year to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking within our business and supply chains.
The Company is committed to preventing modern slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour, and human trafficking in all parts of our business and supply chains.
We are committed to acting ethically, responsibly, and with integrity in all business relationships, and to taking proportionate and risk-based steps to ensure that slavery and human trafficking are not taking place within our operations or those of our suppliers.
Our approach reflects the policy principles of the Human Trafficking and Exploitation (Scotland) Act 2015, including prevention, protection of victims, and partnership working.
The Company operates primarily within the United Kingdom. Our supply chains are predominantly UK-based and include suppliers and contractors providing goods and services necessary to support our operations.
We recognise that, while our supply chains are domestic, risks of exploitation can still arise and therefore require ongoing vigilance.
The management team are responsible for compliance within their respective departments and in their supplier relationships.
All employees receive an induction into the business where our policies, procedures and expectations are outlined.
Overall responsibility for ensuring compliance with this statement rests with the Managing Director, with support from the Board of Directors and Senior Leadership Team.
Managers are responsible for ensuring compliance within their respective departments and supplier relationships, and for escalating any concerns relating to modern slavery or human trafficking.
This statement has been approved by the Board of Directors.
To support our commitment, we maintain and apply a range of relevant policies and procedures, including:
These policies are reviewed periodically and communicated to employees as part of induction and ongoing engagement.
We adopt a proportionate, risk-based approach to identifying and mitigating modern slavery risks. Our due diligence measures include:
Where potential risks are identified, we will take appropriate steps to seek assurance, require remedial action, or review the continuation of the business relationship.
All employees receive induction training covering the Company’s policies, expected standards of conduct, and reporting mechanisms.
Management teams involved in recruitment, procurement, or supplier management are expected to remain alert to indicators of exploitation and to escalate concerns promptly.
The Company encourages the reporting of any concerns relating to modern slavery or human trafficking.
Concerns may be raised internally through the Whistleblowing Policy, or externally via the UK Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline:
All reports are treated seriously and investigated appropriately.
We monitor the effectiveness of our approach through:
We are committed to continuous improvement and will enhance our controls where necessary.
This statement is made in accordance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes the Company’s modern slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year.