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Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement

Introduction

UTL Document Solutions Limited believes that businesses have an obligation to treat people equally, with respect and dignity, and to prevent slavery and human trafficking. We commit to doing all we can to prevent slavery and human trafficking within our business and our supply chains.

We understand that modern slavery can take many forms including; people trafficking, forced labour, servitude and slavery. Working with leading manufacturers such as Ricoh, Canon, Konica, Minolta, Kyocera Lexmark and Epson, UTL Document Solutions Limited has been a leading supplier of multi-function devices, digital office and managed print solutions to UK customers since 1999.

We take our responsibility for preventing slavery and human trafficking very seriously.

We are strict in requiring compliance with our professional and ethical practices and proud of our reputation in the market place for our care, integrity, reliability and fairness.

UTL Document Solutions Limited will not knowingly support or deal with any business involved in slavery or human trafficking. For transparency, we are publishing our Modern Slavery & Human Trafficking Policy Statement on our website for our clients, supply chain, employees and the public to view.

Company Structure

Owned by James Stephens, UTL Document Solutions Limited is an Epping, Essex based supplier of integrated multi-vendor digital solutions business. Established in 1999, we have 9 staff who work in professional partnership with our customers.

Our Business

The hardware solutions we offer include photocopiers and multi-function devices, printers, scanners, fax machines and a wide format printers. We also offer software solutions to help our customers manage their documents.

Our customers operate in diverse areas of UK business:

  • Blue Chip City Corporations
  • Small, medium and large companies
  • Managed Print

Our Supply Chains

As a UK based supplier of integrated multi-vendor digital solutions business UTL Document Solutions Limited supply chains include the provision of goods and services needed to operate the business. These include facilities management, telecoms, IT equipment and stationery. We have a distribution centre in Europe and our supply chains for the sourcing of hardware and other products, such as RICOH, Canon and Konica Minolta are based in Japan.

We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains and we require our suppliers to adhere to our Supplier Code of Conduct and operate in a professional, ethical and legally compliant manner.

Specifically, our suppliers are expected to have a policy recognising, respecting and protecting the human rights of their employees, those of their own suppliers and business partners and the community that may be affected by the suppliers’ operations. We also expect our suppliers to insist on similar standards from their own supply chain.

We expect there to be no forced or involuntary labour. Employees must not be required to lodge money or identity papers in order to work and must be free to leave employment after giving reasonable notice of their intention to leave.

In addition to adhering to all slavery and human trafficking laws, suppliers are also required to observe the provisions of the International Labour Organisation whereby no person under the age of 18 will be employed to work at night or do any hazardous work and that their employment should not harm the young person’s health, education, physical, mental, moral or social development. People under the age of 16 years will not be employed.

UTL Document Solutions Limited will review our current and new supplier contracts to include obligations to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

UTL Document Solutions Policies

  1. All UTL Document Solutions Limited employees are provided with a legally compliant contract of employment within the UK statutory timescales.
  2. Employees may leave employment giving reasonable notice.
  3. The legally required pre-employment identity and immigration checks are made for our employees. A delay in providing their passport could indicate a modern slavery issue.
  4. Employees and candidates are treated equally, fairly and with respect for their dignity throughout the sourcing, selection and recruitment process and throughout their on-going employment with us.
  5. We have zero tolerance for discrimination, victimisation or harassment on the grounds of age, sex (including gender reassignment), race (including colour, ethnic or national origin, nationality), disability, martial or civil partnership status, having or not having dependants, sexual orientation, religious belief or political opinion or trade union activity.
  6. UTL Document Solutions has robust Grievance, Equal Opportunities, and Dignity at Work (Anti-Bullying and Anti-Harassment) and Whistle-blower policies in place to provide guidance and procedures for resolving any employee concerns.
  7. We comply with UK law and industry standards in respect of employee wages, benefits, working hours and minimum age and do not make unauthorised deductions from pay.
  8. Each year, within 6 months of our financial year end in March we will review this policy statement and amend it, as necessary, in line with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 or any amendment to it.

These policies are implemented and monitored by Darren Pickering, Managing Director of UTL Document Solutions Limited.

Due Diligence Process for Slavery and Human Trafficking

UTL Document Solutions Limited ensures all necessary compliance checks are carried out for all employees and workers. We verify the identity and the right to work of all temporary or permanent workers before they do any work for us.

We have a process in place to undertake due diligence on our supply chain to ensure compliance with legal obligations under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.  We map our supply chains to understand where there may be a high risk of slavery or human trafficking.

UTL Document Solutions Limited is committed to protecting employees who disclose malpractice and will ensure that all qualifying disclosures, made in good faith, will be treated confidentially and without fear of detrimental treatment.  UTL Document Solutions Limited employees have a process to raise any concerns they may have in relation to slavery and human trafficking. The UTL Document Solutions Limited Disclosures in the Public Interest (or Whistleblowing) Policy provides more details.

If we found that a supplier had failed to comply with the Modern Slavery Act, we would require them to remedy the non-compliance and would consider terminating the relationship should we see no improvement in their conduct.

Risk

Our core business is focussed on providing digital print solutions to UK based Corporates and smaller businesses. We do not perceive this to a high risk sector compared to agriculture, manufacturing or retail which we perceive to be higher risk with their use of seasonal workers. However, our evaluation process for the risk of slavery and human trafficking is on-going.

For suppliers outside European law, such as the Far East (Japan), we use the International standards definition of Child Labour. This covers children below 12 years working in any economic activities, those aged 12 – 14 engaged in more than light work. We require confirmation that no worker is deprived of their childhood, their potential or their dignity, and that they are not exposed to physical or mental harm or negative impact on their development. To this end we seek transparency from suppliers about the ages of workers, the type of work they do, their hours of work, and the conditions under which they work.  We also seek transparency in respect of their right to leave and not be compelled to live on another person’s property.

Employee Training

UTL Document Solutions Limited employees are required to comply fully with the law and to understand and adhere to UTL Document Solutions Limited statements, guidelines and policies in relation to slavery and human trafficking. The Company will provide information and training to our employees on modern slavery risks and compliance, prioritising those employees dealing directly with supply chains.

We are undertaking a review of our policies and procedures to ensure UTL Document Solutions Limited employees are informed of any additional information and provided with the support they need in respect of slavery, servitude, forced labour or human trafficking. This training will form part of the induction of new employees.

This statement is made pursuant to Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes UTL Document Solutions Limited slavery and human trafficking statement in respect of the 2025 financial year.

Darren Pickering

Managing Director

For and on behalf of UTL Document Solutions Limited