Modern Slavery Act Transparency Statement for the Autovista Group

We have a zero tolerance approach to modern slavery and are fully committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in our corporate activities. This statement sets out the steps we have taken to prevent slavery and human trafficking from occurring within our organisation and our supply chains. We constantly seek to improve our practices to combat slavery and human trafficking.

Our Business

The Autovista Group (the “Group”) is a leading provider of automotive pricing insights along the entire lifecycle of a vehicle.  The Group provides pricing insights across more than 30 markets. The Group has more than 700 employees and operates across Europe and Australia. This statement is made on behalf of the new UK parent company of the Group, Autovista Bidco Limited, following its acquisition of the Group in February 2019.

Our Supply Chains

Our supply chain includes suppliers from a number of sectors, particularly the motor industry, IT software and hardware, and professional services.  We also use agencies to supply agency staff. 

Wherever possible, we seek to include appropriate provisions requiring compliance with legislation, including the Modern Slavery Act 2015, in supplier contracts. 

To date, we are not aware of any slavery or human trafficking activities in our supply chain. If any issue is highlighted to us in the future, then we would undertake an urgent and thorough investigation.  If the investigation confirmed the concerns, we would work with our supplier to ensure that appropriate action was taken to address the issue.  This action may include the termination of our business relationship with that supplier.

The Group's People & Performance and Risk & Compliance teams would be responsible, in the first instance, for dealing with any risks or concerns raised in relation to modern slavery.

Our Policies on Slavery and Human Trafficking

We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business. Our anti-slavery and human trafficking policy reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships. Compliance with the legislation, including the Modern Slavery Act 2015, reflects our company values of respect, openness, trust and integrity. 

We ensure that all staff working for us are engaged in accordance with the law and undertake right to work checks on all direct employees prior to them commencing their employment.  This includes checking, where applicable, that the employee has a valid work visa and is of an appropriate age to work.

In addition, all staff who have any concerns that modern slavery may be occurring in any part of our organization or supply chain are required to notify management so the issue can be addressed and we have processes in place to protect whistleblowers. These processes and policies are reviewed annually with a view to increase their effectiveness. We also host employee forums allowing employees yet another route to raise concerns they may have and to promote openness.

Our Values

Trust, Integrity, Innovation, Openness and Respect:  these are the values that underpin the culture at Autovista Group.  These values are core to all that we do as a business and they set the tone for how we treat each other, our customers, suppliers, and any other third party.

We hold these values as critically important in how we run the business and, to reinforce that, we award employees who demonstrate application of our values in their work.

Awareness

To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains and our business, our anti-slavery and human trafficking policy is available on the Group’s intranet.

We have also invested in two mandatory interactive one-day training courses for all employees across the Group covering a) our company values and b) understanding governance risk & compliance.

To raise awareness of our activities in relation to preventing modern slavery externally, we have also referenced our last modern slavery statement in our Group UK consolidated annual financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2019.

Further Steps

Following a review of the effectiveness of the steps we have taken so far, we intend to take the following further actions during 2020 and beyond to help prevent slavery and human trafficking:

We aim to raise even more awareness of the Modern Slavery Act within our workforce by including a section on its importance in our standard employee induction process as well as by including the prevention of modern slavery as a regular agenda item at our employee forum to discuss employee concerns and suggestions.

As a first step and as part of a wider programme to assess modern slavery and human trafficking risks within our supply chain, we plan to review commitments made by our top suppliers.

Section 54(1)

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 31 December 2019.

Signed:  

On behalf of Autovista Bidco Limited

Date: 25/06/2020