Modern Slavery Statement

Payzone Bill Payments Ltd is committed to doing things correctly. Our values and behaviours represent the conduct we expect.

Introduction

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. It sets out the steps taken by Payzone during year ending 31st March 2020 to ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking are not taking place in our business and supply chains.

Payzone is committed to combating the risk of modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chain and business operations. We are committed to taking appropriate steps to ensure that everyone who works for Payzone in any capacity, benefits from a working environment in which their fundamental rights and freedoms are respected.

This is the first statement in which we report on our efforts to mitigate the risks of modern slavery in line with the requirements of the Act.

Our Business And Supply Chain

For over 30 years, Payzone has provided card and bill payment services to independent retailers, multiples and symbol groups across the UK. We work hard to provide payment solutions for retailers, businesses and customers.

Payzone has provided card and bill payment services to independent retailers, multiples and symbol groups across the UK. Bill payment services still operate under the Payzone brand, however, it is now part of the Post Office network. With over 11,500 branches, the Post Office is the biggest retail network in the UK. The Post Office have provided services for more than 370 years and currently supply a range of essential products and services to communities right across the UK. Together, Payzone and the Post Office have over 24,000 stores and branches across the UK.

Payzone and The Post Office directly controls around 1% of the Network of branches which consumers will generally recognise as the larger branches often situated in the centre of towns and cities across the UK. The remainder of the branches are managed on an agency basis by independent small retailers and shop owners operating our services within their own store. Business owners may own more than one shop operating our services and have a range of other nonconnected business interests. We also have agent managed facilities within some larger high street commercial partners, who like the smaller independent retailers, provide their own trained and friendly staff to provide our services to consumers.

Our Beliefs And Principles

Respect for the dignity of the individual and the importance of each individual’s human rights form the basis of the behaviours we expect in every workplace and are communicated through our Code of Business Standards. We will not accept any form of discrimination, bullying or harassment. We require all our managers to implement policies designed to ensure equality of opportunity and inclusion for all Payzone employees.

Our Policies

We operate a number of policies to ensure we are conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner. These include:

• Code Of Conduct We have a Code of Conduct which underpins everything we do. The Code is mandatory and extends to everyone directly employed by Payzone. It requires all of us to act ethically and comply with legal requirements, putting our principles into practice in everything we do.
• Whistleblowing We operate a Whistleblowing Policy so that all Payzone employees know how to raise concerns regarding wrongdoing or dangerous practices.
• Equal Opportunities And Dignity At Work Our Equal Opportunities and dignity at work policy for Payzone employees sets out the overarching principles and controls to be followed and applied to ensure that the Company is an equal opportunity employer and is fully committed to treating all its employees and job applicants equally.
• The Company will avoid unlawful discrimination in all aspects of employment including recruitment and selection, promotion, transfer, opportunities for training, pay and benefits, other terms of employment, discipline, selection for redundancy and dismissal.
• Procurement Policy We have a procurement policy which sets out how to identify and manage modern slavery risks in both existing contracts and new procurement activities.

What commitments are we making to tackle modern slavery in the year ahead?

• Deploy a supplier evaluation process, using a risk-based selection methodology, with the aim of ensuring control of the supply chain for Payzone Bill Payments.
• Improve the due diligence assessment for onboarding new suppliers to our systems.
• Continue to raise awareness of Modern Slavery across Payzone supply chain.
• Re-deploy specific, annual Modern Slavery awareness training to our teams to enable them to robustly spot signs of Modern Slavery on an ongoing basis.
• Make Modern Slavery Training mandatory as part of the on-boarding process for new employees.

Remediation Processes

If you have any concerns about the issues raised in this statement or if you think you have identified signs of Modern Slavery, then please contact us on the below contacts:

• A line Manager within Payzone.
• HR.
• The Government’s Modern Slavery Helpline on 0800 0121 700.

We encourage any individual who has concerns about unethical behaviour in any part of our business or operations to speak up and to do so without fear of retaliation. We will review all instances of non-compliance, on a case-by-case basis and will implement appropriate remedial action.

V1.0 2020/2021