At Paul Smith we acknowledge that instances of modern slavery can and do occur within fashion supply chains which is why we are absolutely committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in our corporate activities, and to ensuring that our supply chains are free from slavery and trafficking.

Founded in the 1970’s, Paul Smith is a global business designing & selling high quality clothing, shoe and accessory collections for men and women in six continents. We also license others to produce and sell eyewear, fragrance, children’s clothing, and interior products and in Japan license the production and sale of clothing, shoes, and accessories.

Our distribution methods remain the same as in previous years; we sell our products through three main channels; our own shops and website, wholesale both in store and online and licenced partners. From time to time, we also expand our offer through a range of product collaboration projects.

Paul Smith Group Holdings Limited is the ultimate parent company of the global Paul Smith group, including Paul Smith Holdings Limited and our main UK trading company, Paul Smith Limited. Our registered office is at The Poplars, Lenton Lane, Nottingham, NG7 2PW, England.

The Paul Smith group has over 1,050 permanent employees worldwide. We have thorough recruitment practices in which we check all our employees’ eligibility to work, and we are confident that there is no risk of slavery and human trafficking within our group.

Modern slavery training is compulsory for all employees involved in design, production, customer services, warehousing, franchise partnerships and communication with suppliers. Current employees renew their training every three years.

In addition, as part of our continued commitment to our employees and their wellbeing, in January 2021 we launched an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) survey which was sent to all employees to assess our perceived performance in these key areas. Following the results of the survey, EDI groups were formed in June 2021, allowing us to form an EDI strategy, which will be progressed next year.

Our product supply chain remains stable and during the financial year ended June 2021 we sourced our fabrics and components from 244 suppliers and engaged 208 factories to manufacture our products. During the financial year ended June 2021, the majority of our directly sourced fabrics and components were purchased from Europe and the majority of our manufacturing took place in Europe.

We also contract with suppliers for a broad spectrum of goods and services which are important to our business operations, but which do not feed into our product production, such as information technology, shop fittings, travel, marketing and logistics.

At Paul Smith 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 and we have zero tolerance to any such practices.

All factories and mills we work with are required to adhere to ethical working practices as set out in our Supplier Code of Conduct which includes but is not limited to complying with key principles of ensuring that: employment is freely chosen and that freedom of association and other workers’ rights are respected; the required standards of working conditions are met and the conditions will be safe and hygienic; workers’ hours are not excessive and that regular employment is provided; there is no use of child labour; and that no discrimination or harsh or inhumane treatment will be practiced or allowed in their organisation.

In addition, suppliers are required to complete and return our Social Compliance Self-Assessment Questionnaire, which involves thorough assessment of their working conditions including working hours, wages and benefits, health and safety, equality, freedom of association, and that employment is freely chosen with no child labour used.

Update from Previous Year

Following on from our statement in the previous year we can confirm that:

• We continued to issue our Self-Assessment Audits to new and existing suppliers which were monitored accordingly.

• We continued to evaluate the effectiveness of our supplier monitoring processes and as a result of this evaluation, began a comprehensive review of our Self-Assessment Audits with a view to engage with industry stakeholders to make improvements.

• Between March 2021 and June 2021, we completed the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Index Brand Retail Module which enabled us to identify areas of improvement with regards to our social impact within our own operations and our supply chains.

• We launched our Path to Sustainability in March 2021 which includes ‘Community Care’ as one of our four chosen pathways. Community Care encompasses a sense a responsibility for not only those within our offices, shops and own operations but also to those working in our product supply chains.

• Our employee e-learning training was monitored, and additional training and refresher training was prescribed for relevant and new staff members.

• We continued to include clauses to specifically address the Modern Slavery Act 2015 in any relevant contracts with 3rd parties that have been renewed during this financial year.

• Any new contracts with 3rd parties will include, if appropriate, requirements to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Going Forward

• We will complete the Higg Index Brand Retail Module for the second consecutive year with a view to improve our existing social impact score.

• We will continue with our Self-Assessment Audit review by working with global assurance provider Intertek to develop a digital Self-Assessment Questionnaire which will enable us to effectively and accurately monitor any possible modern slavery risks within our supply chain.

• We will work towards achieving GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard) certification in the year ending 30 June 2022 which will provide us with assurance that the sourcing of our organic cotton does not involve the use of modern slavery.

• Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion groups will continue developing our new EDI strategy with four key focuses: recruitment, progression, communication and training.

• We will continue working towards our Path to Sustainability targets, monitoring and adding to our targets on a regular and consistent basis.

During this financial year ending June 2021 we have not uncovered any incidents or indicators of modern slavery in our supply chain.

This statement covers Paul Smith Group Holdings Limited, Paul Smith (Holdings) Ltd and Paul Smith Limited and has been approved by each company’s board of directors on 7 June 2022.