Modern Slavery Act statement for 2025:

In this statement, the ‘Group’ refers to Benefact Group plc together with its subsidiaries. This statement covers the companies within the Benefact Group which are in scope under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015: Ecclesiastical Insurance Office (EIO) and Lloyd & Whyte Group Limited.

The Group is committed to preventing acts of modern slavery and human trafficking from occurring within both its business and supply chains.

“Increasing scrutiny of supply chains is good for business. It ensures businesses are fully aware of exactly who they are working with and how they are conducting themselves and it gives consumers the confidence that the business community is collectively setting higher standards. We expect high standards of responsible business from our own business, and we expect no less from the partners we choose to work with. We’re committed to continually improve the standards and practice in our supply chains.”

Mark Hews, Group Chief Executive

Structure of organisation

The Group is a specialist financial services group providing insurance, broking and advisory and investment products and services. The business is predominantly UK-based with overseas operations in Canada, Australia and Ireland. Over 2,000 people are directly employed. The Group is owned by a charity, Benefact Trust, with all available profits going back to charities and good causes.

In 2024, the Group reported a profit before tax of £77.6m. Find out more about our business and the Group in our Annual Report & Accounts.

Our UK supply chain is managed centrally by a dedicated team of procurement specialists within our Finance and Claims departments. Supply chain relationships for our overseas businesses are managed locally.

Policies

We have a number of policies that underpin our efforts to address the risk of modern slavery across the business and our supply chains. The most relevant include:

  • Procurement Policy and an Outsourcing Policy which ensures all suppliers, whether they are being centrally or locally managed, go through the appropriate checks and scrutiny
  • Guide for Suppliers, which ensures all suppliers aware of and subscribe to our high expectations, standards and procedures.
  • Whistleblowing Policy and Procedures that enable employees to confidentially raise their concerns, including issues related to slavery and human trafficking.
  • Employee Code of Conduct, which sets out our shared commitment to acting with integrity, speaking up and reporting concerns. Our annual Code of Conduct training is completed by all employees.

Through our responsible and sustainable investment business, EdenTree, we:

  • continue to include ‘Human Rights’ and ‘Employment & Labour’ as two of our key responsibility/ESG criteria; and
  • support a range of initiatives to influence business behaviour. This included signing a collaborative letter sent to UK companies non-compliant with the Modern Slavery Act as part of the Votes Against Slavery coalition.

Due Diligence

The group expects and requires its suppliers to uphold our high standards. Our established procurement process includes rigorous due diligence. Specifically relevant, we:

  • consider modern slavery risk as part of our due diligence at renewal for all relevant suppliers;
  • consider modern slavery risk as part of our due diligence for all UK claims suppliers; and
  • ask all new suppliers whether they match our commitment to pay the living wage.

We use the Financial Services Qualification Scheme (FSQS) operated by Hellios, a market leading supplier due diligence community. FSQS provides a mechanism for collecting and managing supplier assurance information and supports our due diligence processes.

Risk assessment and management

As a provider of financial services, we do not operate in a sector which is considered to be high risk by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), nor do we purchase goods or services from organisations which we would associate with modern slavery or human trafficking.

Training

Our annual Code of Conduct training is completed by all employees and includes acting with integrity and speaking up and reporting concerns.

Giving

The Group’s purpose and charitable ownership means it has a unique opportunity to create a positive social impact. Through our giving we have supported organisations working to eliminate modern slavery. In 2024, this included a £150,000 grant from Benefact Trust to The Clewer Institute, enabling church networks to detect modern slavery in their communities and help provide victim support and care.

Monitoring and effectiveness

During 2024 no suspected or confirmed instances of modern slavery were identified within our business or supply chain. Nevertheless, we will continue to evaluate our exposure and regularly review our policies, processes, and support materials.

Sign off

This statement is made in accordance with Section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes the Group’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year commencing 1 January 2024 and ending 31 December 2024.

Mark Hews
Group Chief Executive

Statement ENDS