SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Oxford is committed to the ideal of trading ethically, sourcing responsibly and working to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chain. We take seriously any allegation of human rights abuse in all its forms and will not accept it in any form. 

We are committed to preventing modern slavery and human trafficking throughout our business and supply chain and to understanding the modern slavery risks that may be present. We do this by:
• continuing to take steps to find effective methods to eliminate slavery and human trafficking practices. We are working towards full transparency of our supply chain.
• ensuring our policies and procedures are reviewed regularly and that we have development and training processes in place to enable our internal teams and our suppliers to have an appropriate awareness and understanding of the issues and our responsibilities.
• respecting internationally recognised human rights, ensuring the people who provide the products and services we buy and use are treated fairly, and that their fundamental human rights are protected and respected.
Continuous improvement lies at the heart of our business. We aim to conduct our business in an ethical manner and to develop positive relationships with our suppliers to raise standards of working conditions in the factories where our products are made. 

OUR SUPPLY CHAIN

Oxford’s supply chain is both diverse and dynamic. Our key priority of trading ethically and acting responsibly towards the workers in our suppliers’ factories is managed principally through our long association with SGS.
SGS Social Compliance works directly with both new and existing suppliers to ensure they demonstrate compliance with the requirements of our Auditing Standards. One of the greatest risks within our supply chain is the exploitation of vulnerable workers. Our Supplier Code of Conduct clearly set out the minimum standards and requirements for our product suppliers in relation to workers’ safety and human rights, employment and working conditions.
Auditing is an indispensable tool for identifying potential human rights risks. 75% of factories supplying Oxford branded products were audited during the most recent financial year. Factory audit ratings are used as an internal metric and 90% of those factories audited achieved an acceptable rating.
The feedback and results of audits are shared with our suppliers and our priority is to support factories, ensuring they understand the requirements and expectations of them.
We use a large variety of raw materials and our aim is to ensure these materials are sourced and produced sustainably and responsibly. The product supply chains we work with are complex and making improvements in supply chain traceability and transparency is a focus for Oxford. We work closely with our suppliers in different parts of the supply chain to understand where raw materials are sourced and to identify where we can source more responsibly. 

THE ENVIRONMENT

Climate change and resource scarcity are widely recognised as complex global challenges affecting businesses and their supply chains and we take our responsibilities in this area seriously. During the year we have measured our total value chain emissions and set a new target to reduce these emissions by 30% by 2030. We have developed and are committed to our Environment Policy that focuses on several parts of our business.

OUR POLICIES

Our internal working practices and business policies are designed to ensure that people are treated with dignity and respect by upholding internationally recognised human rights principles encompassed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Our Human Rights and Modern Slavery Policy reflects our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to identify, prevent or mitigate human rights’ risks, slavery and human trafficking.
The Oxford Code of Conduct is defined as follows:
1. Employment is freely chosen
2. Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected
3. Working conditions are safe and hygienic
4. Child labour shall not be used
5. Living Wages are Paid
6. Working hours are not excessive
7. No discrimination is practiced
8. Regular employment is provided
9. No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed

Our business cannot tackle these problems alone, so it is important and valuable for Oxford to work with others to develop solutions for some of the more complex and systemic problems found within global supply chains. We believe that by maintaining strong direct relationships and undertaking collaborative work such as sharing information and resources with other retailers, brands, trade unions and non-governmental organisations we are all able to work together in partnership to deliver real benefits to workers in our supply chains.

UNDERTAKING A RISK ANALYSIS

We have built a more detailed picture of the risks in our key supply chains to provide us with a deeper understanding of the human rights issues across our business and established a human rights risk register, as part of our corporate risk framework.

OUR DUE DILIGENCE APPROACH

Oxford has clear policies and monitoring processes in place combined with vigorous supply chain management. We review and update these policies and practices regularly as we learn from our experiences.
Our auditing process is a vital due diligence tool as it delivers assurance that our suppliers and their factories understand their responsibility to comply with our ethical standards.
We have implemented extensive training and awareness programmes to ensure both internal and external parties clearly understand the issues, our required standards and their obligations and responsibilities. 

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