Modern Slavery Policy

Yours Clothing Limited is a privately owned United Kingdom limited liability company. Yours have been a Plus sized clothing retailer since 1993. Yours designs, develops, sources and sells clothing and accessories both in the UK and globally, operating in multi countries. Yours products are sold through our own retail and outlet stores as well as through stores operated by our franchise partners and online via our digital platforms. At 1st August 2017, Yours employed over 1,100 people including part time employees in its 115 stores, 1 distribution depot and head office based in Peterborough UK. Corporate functions providing services in Human Resources, Finance, IT, Marketing and Retail operations are located at the Peterborough Yours head office.

While we undertake most of the design and development of our products ourselves, we outsource the manufacturing of all our products. In most factories, the facilities are shared with production for other Clothing & Accessories brands. We work closely and collaboratively with suppliers and service providers, numbering +100 suppliers in over 10 countries.

Yours Terms & Conditions and Code of Practice for Suppliers are available via the Bureau Veritas Yours website and published on our web site www.yoursclothing.co.uk

Terms & Conditions

Our T&C’s outlines the values and principles that help shape the way we work. It is primarily aimed at employees and we encourage our business partners, including suppliers, franchise and partners, to adopt and apply the T&C’s wherever they represent or promote the Yours brand. The key principles include:

Code of Practice for Suppliers

Yours Code of Practice summarises the minimum standards for working conditions that we expect our Suppliers to adhere to in the production of all Yours products. The Code of Practice requires compliance with all local legal and regulatory requirements of the country in which the facility is located; to recognise International standards and to uphold the core labour conventions of the International Labour Organization. Where there is any conflict between these we expect the higher standard to be achieved.

It contains specific requirements related to forced labour as follows:

* All work must be conducted on a voluntary basis, and not under threat of any penalty or sanctions.

* The Supplier shall not use any form of forced, bonded, indentured, trafficked, slave or prison labour.

* Workers must not be required to lodge "deposits" or their identity papers with their employer. All workers should be provided free and unrestricted access to potable water and clean toilet facilities.

* used in the Code of Practice the term “Supplier” includes but is not limited to vendors, agents, factories, sub-contractors and material & component suppliers

HR policies

Yours Clothing Ltd will not use or allow the use of forced, compulsory labour, slavery, servitude or human trafficking in the course of its business. This includes sexual exploitation, securing services by force, threats or deception and securing services from children and vulnerable persons.

Our employment procedures guarantee that Yours Clothing Ltd conducts appropriate checks on all staff to ensure they can legally work in the United Kingdom.

In addition, all internal policies are reviewed regularly to ensure continued compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Yours operates the following policies which are relevant to the prevention of slavery and human trafficking in its operations:

* Outsourcing Policy. This establishes that Yours Clothing Ltd will continue to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and conduct annual reviews of outsourced suppliers

* Recruitment Policy. This confirms that Yours Clothing Ltd will conduct checks on all staff to safeguard that they can legally work in the United Kingdom

* Corporate Responsibility Policy. This policy is designed to ensure that Yours Clothing Ltd is conducting its business responsibly.

* Whistleblowing Policy. Yours Clothing Ltd encourages all of its employees to report any concerns related to the activities of the firm. The organisation’s whistleblowing procedure is designed to ensure that any matter raised under this procedure will be investigated thoroughly, promptly and confidentially, and the outcome of the investigation reported back to the individual who raised the issue. Additionally, the policy guarantees that no one will be victimised for raising a matter under this procedure.

Due Diligence and Audits of suppliers

We believe that our biggest exposure to Modern Slavery is in our product supply chains, which is a biggest focus initially. Within these areas, new suppliers and factories/sites are subject to due diligence checks in the form of a valid 3rd party ethical audit to SMETA (or similar standards). Existing factories are also required to provide Yours with 3rd party audit information.

In common with other retailers, audits are conducted either by our Yours Buying & Garment Technical team or by a third-party service provider on our behalf.

These audits are used to assess compliance with Yours Terms & Conditions and Code of practice for suppliers and identify issues for investigation so action can be taken.

In the first instance, we aim to gather the information through our audit programme to take action to improve conditions were necessary and to inform sourcing decisions.

Yours does not tolerate forced labour, slavery or human trafficking within our direct operations or supply chains. Where any non-compliance to Yours Code of Practice for Suppliers is identified, we expect and support suppliers to take action to correct it. If a supplier does not take effective action in a timely manner withdrawing our business remains the final sanction.

Addressing the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking

* Mapping our supplier chains to assess particular industry/sector and geographical risk, to have a clear idea of where the business risks lie

* Assessment scope covers all aspects of our business including Retail operations, Property, Logistics, HR and IT as well as our product supply chains

* Meeting with a 3rd party to discuss conducting a modern slavery risk assessment on behalf of Yours Clothing

* Reviewing our governance structures for responsible sourcing of Goods for Resale (GfR) and Goods Not for Resale (GNfR)

* Published the Yours Modern Slavery statement

During the remainder of the 2017/18 financial year, Yours will continue to build on these activities, considering the following areas in particular:

* Internally publish the findings of modern slavery risk assessment, collate action plan to further mitigate risks and drive improvement using best practice examples from other retailers

* Engage our supply base by writing to all areas of our business to raise awareness of the Modern Slavery Act and Human Rights

* Review of potential KPIs and monitoring

We aim to hold awareness training, on the prevalence of modern slavery and the Modern Slavery Act to highlight the issue and how we expect all employees to play their part.

Supply chains can change for many reasons and the threat of modern slavery can continue to evolve and change. We intend to continue to monitor and review our controls that guard against the risk of modern slavery which will be shared and reported on.

Approved by the Board of Yours Clothing Ltd on 25.01.2018 and signed on its behalf by:

David Preece
Company Secretary 
25.01.2018