JD SPORTS FASHION PLC modern slavery statement summary (2024)

Organisation address
Hollinsbrook Way,
Pilsworth,
Bury,
Lancashire,
BL9 8RR

We asked the organisation a series of questions about its modern slavery statement. Its answers are published on this page as a statement summary.

This statement provides information for all 6 recommended areas

What is a modern slavery statement?
UK law requires certain organisations to publish an annual modern slavery statement on their website, setting out the steps they are taking to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains. Read more in the government guidance on publishing modern slavery statements.
Link to full statement
Go to full modern slavery statement on organisation’s website

PDF version of the statement

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About this statement summary

All answers relate to the financial year covered by the statement. The organisation is responsible for all the information it provided. Some of our questions are optional, so organisations may not have answered all of them. The statement summary does not replace the full modern slavery statement – below we provide a link to the full statement on the organisation’s website.

Contents

Organisations covered by the statement

JD SPORTS FASHION PLC modern slavery statement for 2024 is a group statement covering 16 organisations. See the full list of organisations covered by this statement

Statement period and sign-off details

The statement covers the following period:
1 February 2023 to 31 January 2024

The statement was signed off by:
Regis Shultz (CEO)

It was approved by the board (or equivalent management body) on:
9 July 2024

Recommended areas covered by the statement

Government guidance encourages organisations to cover a range of areas in their modern slavery statements, setting out the steps they’re taking to address modern slavery risks in their operations and supply chains. Read about the recommended areas in the statutory guidance.

We asked the organisation to tell us which areas its statement covers.

Areas recommended by government guidance Organisation’s response
The organisation’s structure, business and supply chains Covered
Policies Covered
Risk assessment Covered
Due diligence (steps to address risk) Covered
Training about modern slavery Covered
Goals and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness of the organisation's actions and progress over time Covered

The organisation’s sectors and turnover

Sectors

The organisation operates in the following sectors:

  • Fashion, textiles, apparel and luxury goods

Turnover

Its turnover in the financial accounting year of this statement was:

Over £500 million

If the organisation is a public body, this amount is based on the organisation’s budget for the year of the statement.
What does 'turnover' refer to in group statements?
If this is a group statement, this includes the total turnover for all the organisations covered by the statement.

Number of years producing statements

The organisation has been producing modern slavery statements for the following number of years:
More than 5 years
How does this work for group statements?
If the statement is for a group of organisations, this answer applies to the organisation with the longest history of producing statements.

Policies (optional)

We asked the organisation whether its policies include the following provisions in relation to its domestic and international supply chains, as well as its own operations.
Policy provisions we asked about Organisation’s response
Freedom of workers to terminate employment Included
Freedom of movement Included
Freedom of association Included
Prohibits any threat of violence, harassment and intimidation Included
Prohibits the use of worker-paid recruitment fees Included
Prohibits compulsory overtime Included
Prohibits child labour Included
Prohibits discrimination Included
Prohibits confiscation of workers' original identification documents Included
Provides access to remedy, compensation and justice for victims of modern slavery Not included
Other
Not included

Training (optional)

We asked the organisation whether it provided training on modern slavery, and who it was for.
What counts as training?
We explained that by ‘training’ we meant anything designed to increase knowledge and skills around identifying, addressing or preventing modern slavery risks. This could range from formal training courses to broader awareness-raising activities such as workshops or webinars.
We asked who the training was for Organisation’s response
Your whole organisation No
Your front line staff Yes
Human resources Yes
Executive-level staff No
Procurement staff Yes
Your suppliers No
The wider community No
Other
No

Monitoring working conditions (optional)

Engaging with others

We asked the organisation to tell us who it engaged with to help monitor working conditions across its operations and supply chains.
We asked who the organisation engaged with Organisation’s response
Your suppliers Yes
Trade unions or worker representative groups No
Civil society organisations No
Professional auditors No
Workers within your organisation Yes
Workers within your supply chain No
Central or local government No
Law enforcement, such as police, GLAA and other local labour market inspectorates Yes
Businesses in your industry or sector Yes

Social audits

We asked the organisation to tell us about any social audits it used to look for signs of modern slavery.
What are social audits?
A social audit is a review of an organisation’s working practices from the point of view of social responsibility, and should include an evaluation of working conditions in the organisation’s operations and supply chains. By their nature, audits of supplier workplaces represent a snapshot in time.
Social audits we asked about Organisation’s response
Audit conducted by your staff No
Third party audit arranged by your organisation Yes
Audit conducted by your supplier’s staff No
Third party audit arranged by your supplier Yes
Announced audit Yes
Unannounced audit No

Grievance mechanisms

We asked the organisation how workers in its operations or supply chains could raise concerns or make complaints.
We asked if workers could raise concerns this way Organisation’s response
Using anonymous whistleblowing services, such as a helpline or mobile phone app Yes
Through trade unions or other worker representative groups Yes

Other ways of monitoring working conditions

We asked the organisation whether it had any other ways of monitoring working conditions across its operations and supply chains:
Extensive pre-assessments for suppliers who supply evidence of CAP's. We have a stable long term partnership with suppliers and work closely with them on defined projects relating to MDS.

Modern slavery risks (optional)

Warning Identifying modern slavery risks is a vital step towards eradicating it. The government encourages organisations to be as open and transparent as possible, to improve understanding, collaboration and best practice around tackling this worldwide problem.
We asked the organisation to describe up to 3 priority risks it focused on during the period of the statement, including details of the affected workers, the activity involved, and the location.

Priority risks for this organisation (1 of 3)

Cotton Sourcing across the supply chain. Working through the Better Cotton initiative and the move to transparency in the sourcing of the cotton will give more visibility of this supply chain/risk.
Questions we asked about this risk Organisation’s response
Where it was most likely to occur Organisation’s response: Within your supply chains.
  • Tier 3 suppliers and below
    Provide products and services to your organisation via your Tier 2 suppliers or the next higher level in the chain.
Who was it most likely to affect Organisation’s response:
  • Women
  • Children
In which country Organisation’s response:
  • China
  • India
Actions or plans to address this risk Organisation’s response: Evaluating our suppliers sourcing of cotton directly with the Tier 1's and identifying the source of their raw material and evidencing invoices to have transparency of the risk. Working within the initative to more transparency at the ginner.

Priority risks for this organisation (2 of 3)

Audit non compliances and working to to understand the root cause and work with partners to understand how this can be addressed and resolved. Audits have gaps but we are working to identify gaps.
Questions we asked about this risk Organisation’s response
Where it was most likely to occur Organisation’s response: Within your supply chains.
  • Tier 1 suppliers
    Provide their products and services directly to your organisation.
Who was it most likely to affect Organisation’s response:
  • Women
  • Migrants
In which country Organisation’s response:
  • China
  • India
  • Cambodia
  • Turkey
Actions or plans to address this risk Organisation’s response: Understanding the root cause of an effect on the worker allows remedy to be mitigated and work undertaken to partner with the supply chain on understanding cause and effect. We have done a lot of work through our Identify Act Resolve programme which is detailed in the report.

Priority risks for this organisation (3 of 3)

Improving pay. Living wages are difficult to achieve as the gap between minimum pay & LW grows wider. We are working to understand our supply chain and its actual pay including benefits for workers.
Questions we asked about this risk Organisation’s response
Where it was most likely to occur Organisation’s response: Within your supply chains.
  • Tier 1 suppliers
    Provide their products and services directly to your organisation.
Who was it most likely to affect Organisation’s response:
  • Women
  • Migrants
In which country Organisation’s response:
  • Bangladesh
  • China
  • Egypt
  • India
  • Cambodia
  • Pakistan
Actions or plans to address this risk Organisation’s response: Reduction of the supply base to ensure better economic growth for the partners and their supply chain has allowed focus on programmes like wages and to understand the challenges and the risk to our indirect workforce in our global supply chain. We do not have direct relations with the lower tiers but promote our programme through the Tier 1 and ask that they cascade this down. Reducing the supply chain enables cohesive values to be adopted.

Indicators of forced labour (optional)

We asked the organisation whether its statement refers to finding any International Labour Organization (ILO) indicators of forced labour.
What are ILO indicators of forced labour?
The International Labour Organization (ILO) has produced a list of the most common signs of forced labour. They’re based on the definition of forced labour as ‘all work or service which is extracted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily.’ More details and guidance are available on the ILO website, and in their publication ILO indicators of forced labour
ILO indicators we asked about Organisation’s response
Abuse of vulnerability Yes
Deception No
Restriction of movement No
Isolation No
Physical and sexual violence No
Intimidation and threats No
Retention of identity documents No
Withholding of wages No
Debt bondage No
Abusive working and living conditions No
Excessive overtime Yes
Other
-

Actions taken in response to finding ILO indicators

We asked the organisation to tell us whether its statement refers to any actions it took after finding indicators of forced labour
Actions we asked about Organisation’s response
Financial remediation, including repayment of recruitment fees No
Change in policy No
Change in training Yes
Referring potential victims to government services No
Supporting victims via NGO Yes
Supporting investigations by relevant authorities No
Other
-

Demonstrating progress (optional)

We asked the organisation how its statement demonstrates progress over time in addressing modern slavery risks. They provided the following answer:
We have developed the Identify Act Resolve process which gives more transparency to risk and mitigation. We started to focus on remuneration support of the workers in our 1st tier during the previous year and have worked with the suppliers to understand and work to improve this area. Continued to work with disadvantaged young people through our charity to address gang slavery in youth culture and to encourage social mobility with our charity partners alongside our support of women in the UK.