Modern Slavery Statement

Our Organisation

We operate from two locations in the UK, London and Bristol. Our business is managed and controlled by a Management Group, an Executive Team, and a Board of Directors.

Protection Group International specialises in managing digital risks. Since 2013, we have been supporting clients to build digital resilience by helping them transform their own capability or leveraging ours to meet their goals. Our digital security, capacity building and digital investigations services include, skills development and training, contextualising information environments, security testing, cyber incident response and information assurance consultancy.

Our workforce consists of employed professionals and self-employed contractors providing these services to organisations on an ongoing basis, both within the UK, and for overseas projects.

Our supply chain

In order to fulfil our activities, the main suppliers we work with include:

• Contractors;

• Landlords and facilities management;

• IT suppliers (software, applications, platforms, and infrastructure hosting);

• Business partners (recruitment, marketing, pension administration, life assurance and staff healthcare admin, insurance administration, and legal support);

• Auditors and regulators.

Definitions

We consider that modern slavery encompasses:

• Human trafficking;

• Forced work, through mental or physical threat;

• Being owned or controlled by an employer through mental or physical abuse or the threat of abuse;

• Being dehumanised, treated as a commodity or being bought or sold as property;

• Being physically constrained or to have restriction placed on freedom of movement.

We acknowledge our responsibilities in relation to tackling modern slavery and commit to complying with the provisions in the Modern Slavery Act 2015. We understand that this requires an ongoing review of both our internal practices in relation to our workforce and, additionally, our supply chain.

We do not enter into business with any other organisation, in the United Kingdom or abroad, which knowingly supports or is found to involve itself in slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour.

No labour provided to our organisation for the provision of our services is obtained by means of slavery or human trafficking. We strictly adhere to the minimum standards required, and strive where possible to go beyond, in relation to our responsibilities under relevant employment legislation in the countries in which we operate.

Potential exposure

We consider our exposure to slavery/human trafficking to be relatively limited, nonetheless, we have taken steps to ensure that such practices do not take place in our business nor the business of any organisation that supplies goods or services to it.

Steps

We carry out due diligence processes in relation to ensuring slavery and/or human trafficking does not take place in either our organisation or our supply chains, including conducting a review of controls implemented by suppliers.

We have not, to our knowledge, conducted any business with another organisation which has been found to have involved itself with modern slavery.

In accordance with section 54(4) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, the Organisation has reviewed steps to be taken to ensure that modern slavery is not taking place. Our due diligence processes in relation to modern slavery include carrying out the following steps on a regular basis:

• Reviewing supplier contracts to include termination powers if the supplier is, or is suspected, to be involved in modern slavery;

• Implementing measures to identify and assess the potential risks in our supply chains;

• Undertaking impact assessments of our services upon potential instances of slavery;

• Creating action plans to address any risks or incidents logged regarding modern slavery;

• Assessing and taking into account any actions to embed a zero tolerance policy towards modern slavery;

• Training to be provided to staff on modern slavery.

Key performance indicators

We will set the following key performance indicators to measure our effectiveness in ensuring modern slavery is not taking place in our organisation or our supply chains:

• How effective (in terms of timeliness and responses received) are our supply chain reviews;

• The number of employees that have been educated on the subject of modern slavery;

• The number of incidents that have been logged and investigated in terms of non-compliance with the Modern Slavery Act and its requirements.

In 2022, PGI had no reported incidents of human rights breaches, slavery or trafficking.

Policies

Our Code of Conduct and Business Ethics policy outlines our approach to ensuring good corporate citizenship.

Training

We provide training at induction / annual training updates for our employees to enable them to spot and raise any potential concerns.

Modern Slavery Compliance Officer

We have a dedicated Modern Slavery Compliance Officer, to whom all concerns regarding modern slavery should be addressed, and who will then undertake relevant actions.

This statement is made in pursuance of Section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and will be reviewed for each financial year.

Print name: Paul Traill

Job Title: Head of Risk & Compliance

Date: 02/05/2024