What we do to prevent modern slavery and protect people in our business and supply chain.

Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement

Reporting period:1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025

Publication year: 2025/26

Modern slavery is a crime and a serious violation of fundamental human rights. It can take many forms, including slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour and human trafficking. These abuses have in common the deprivation of a person’s liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain.

1) Our commitment

Inn Express Ltd has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and human trafficking. We are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships, and to implementing proportionate, risk-based systems and controls to help prevent modern slavery within our business and supply chains.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and sets out the steps we take to help prevent modern slavery and human trafficking during the reporting period.

2) Our business and supply chains

We are a multi-depot wholesale drinks distributor operating across the UK. Our supply chain includes product suppliers, logistics and warehousing partners, packaging providers, facilities contractors and labour providers.

We recognise that modern slavery risks can exist within complex, multi-tier supply chains and labour-intensive services. Within our business model, higher risk areas may include temporary or agency labour, third-party transport and logistics, facilities and cleaning contractors, and overseas producers or packaging suppliers operating in higher-risk jurisdictions.

3) Policies and governance

We maintain a Modern Slavery & Anti-Human Trafficking Policy and supporting procedures designed to help prevent, detect and respond to modern slavery risks within our operations and supply chains.

Roles and responsibilities

Managing Director: overall accountability for ensuring our approach meets legal and ethical obligations, and for approving and publishing this statement.
People Operations Manager: day-to-day coordination of policy implementation, supplier expectations, awareness activity, and record-keeping relating to due diligence and escalations.
Managers: responsible for ensuring teams understand reporting routes and for escalating concerns promptly.
All workers: responsible for complying with our standards and reporting any concerns.

4) Supplier expectations and contracting

We expect the same high standards from all suppliers, contractors and business partners. As part of our contracting and onboarding processes, we require suppliers to:

prohibit forced, compulsory or trafficked labour, slavery and servitude for adults and children;
ensure workers can leave employment freely and are not coerced;
never retain passports or identification documents;
use ethical recruitment practices, including no worker-paid recruitment fees;
maintain transparency over labour arrangements, including the use of subcontractors; and
cascade equivalent standards to their own suppliers and subcontractors where relevant.

These requirements are reflected in our supplier onboarding documentation and standard purchasing terms and are applied proportionately based on supplier risk. Where concerns arise, we may request reasonable evidence of controls and take proportionate action, including corrective action plans, suspension or termination of the relationship.

5) Due diligence and risk management

We apply a proportionate, risk-based approach to due diligence. Depending on supplier type and assessed risk, this may include:

supplier declarations and onboarding checks;

risk categorisation based on factors such as labour model, subcontracting and supply chain complexity;

targeted evidence requests and periodic reviews for higher-risk categories;

modern slavery clauses within contracts and purchasing terms; and

escalation and remediation processes where risks are identified.

Where appropriate, and with worker welfare and safety as the priority, we will work with suppliers to address coercive, abusive or exploitative practices. Where risks cannot be managed responsibly, we may exit the relationship.

6) Training and awareness

Training on modern slavery risks forms part of induction for colleagues and is reinforced through ongoing internal communications. Enhanced, role-relevant awareness is provided to managers and colleagues who oversee suppliers, labour arrangements or third-party contractors.

Training focuses on practical indicators relevant to our operations, including recruitment practices, working conditions, and signs of coercion or restricted freedom.

Our expectations are communicated to suppliers and business partners at the outset of our relationship and reinforced as appropriate thereafter.

7) Reporting concerns and protection from retaliation

Preventing, detecting and reporting modern slavery is everyone’s responsibility.

If you believe or suspect that modern slavery may be taking place within our business or any tier of our supply chain, you should raise this immediately with your line manager, the People Operations Manager or the Managing Director. Concerns may also be raised under our whistleblowing arrangements where applicable.

We encourage openness and will support anyone who raises genuine concerns in good faith, even if they turn out to be mistaken. No one will suffer detrimental treatment for raising a concern in good faith. Detrimental treatment includes dismissal, disciplinary action, threats or other unfavourable treatment connected with raising a concern.

Where appropriate, concerns may also be reported to relevant external authorities or specialist organisations.

8) Breaches

Any employee who breaches our modern slavery policy may face disciplinary action up to and including dismissal for misconduct or gross misconduct. We may terminate relationships with suppliers, contractors or other third parties who breach these standards or refuse to provide reasonable transparency.

9) Effectiveness and continuous improvement

We monitor the effectiveness of our approach through a combination of supplier onboarding checks, training completion, recorded concerns and periodic review of supplier risk categories. We keep our processes under review to ensure they remain appropriate to our operations and supply chain.

During 2025/26, we will continue to refine our risk assessment, supplier engagement and training activity as our business and supply chain evolve.