THE DOCTORS LABORATORY LIMITED modern slavery statement summary (2025)
Organisation address
The Halo Building,
1 Mabledon Place,
London,
England,
WC1H 9AX
1 Mabledon Place,
London,
England,
WC1H 9AX
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
Warning
The file has been uploaded directly by THE DOCTORS LABORATORY LIMITED and has not been reviewed, assessed or moderated by the Home Office for suitability and accessibility.
If you need an accessible version of this PDF file, please contact THE DOCTORS LABORATORY LIMITED for further assistance.
If you need an accessible version of this PDF file, please contact THE DOCTORS LABORATORY LIMITED for further assistance.
shl_modern-slavery-statement_2025.pdf
File uploaded: 12 December 2025 at 8:15pm
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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
- Legal requirement to publish
- Statement period and sign-off details
- Recommended areas covered by the statement
- The organisation’s sectors and turnover
- Number of years producing statements
- Policies
- Training
- Monitoring working conditions
- Modern slavery risks
- Finding indicators of modern slavery
- Demonstrating progress
Organisations covered by the statement
THE DOCTORS LABORATORY LIMITED modern slavery statement for 2025 is a group statement covering 4 organisations. See the full list of organisations covered by this statement
Legal requirement to publish
THE DOCTORS LABORATORY LIMITED has confirmed it is required to publish a 2025 statement by law.
Statement period and sign-off details
The statement covers the following period:
1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025
The statement was signed off by:
Colin Goldschmidt (CEO)
It was approved by the board (or equivalent management body) on:
13 November 2025
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:
- Healthcare and pharmaceuticals
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 | 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 | Yes |
| Your front line staff | No |
| Human resources | Yes |
| Executive-level staff | Yes |
| Procurement staff | Yes |
| Your suppliers | Yes |
| 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 | Yes |
| Professional auditors | Yes |
| 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 | No |
| 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 | Yes |
| Third party audit arranged by your organisation | Yes |
| Audit conducted by your supplier’s staff | No |
| Third party audit arranged by your supplier | No |
| Announced audit | Yes |
| Unannounced audit | Yes |
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 | No |
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:
For higher- risk suppliers, we conduct deeper reviews, which may include onsite visits. In FY2025, we focused on Tier 2 suppliers in China, assessed in person - and cleaning service providers.
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)
Medical Supplies: There is a noted higher risk of adverse human rights impacts, particularly labour violations, in the manufacturing (Tier 2 and beyond suppliers) of disposable gloves.
| Questions we asked about this risk | Organisation’s response |
|---|---|
| Where it was most likely to occur |
Organisation’s response:
Within your supply chains.
|
| Who was it most likely to affect |
Organisation’s response:
|
| In which country | Organisation’s response: China |
| Actions or plans to address this risk | Organisation’s response: In FY2025, we worked closely with a long-term Tier 1 supplier of high-volume packaging products that are mainly sourced from China, where there is potentially a higher risk of modern slavery. Our Tier 1 supplier visited five Tier 2 supplier sites there and, in collaboration with Sonic, used our modern slavery site assessment work program as the basis for their onsite reviews. The Tier 1 supplier provided Sonic with scores and evidence of each supplier’s operational procedures and controls. |
Priority risks for this organisation (2 of 3)
Couriers and Freight: Freight and transport services, including shipping, distribution and storage. Groups include seafarers, drivers, port and other workers.
| Questions we asked about this risk | Organisation’s response |
|---|---|
| Where it was most likely to occur |
Organisation’s response:
Within your supply chains.
|
| Who was it most likely to affect |
Organisation’s response:
|
| In which country | Organisation’s response: United Kingdom |
| Actions or plans to address this risk | Organisation’s response: Sonic has strengthened the monitoring and assessment of employment practices and operations to manage the risk of human rights violations and instances of modern slavery. In this reporting period, we have established a global Human Resources (HR) forum which complements our existing Australian HR leaders’ group, and includes regular discussions on employment practices and human rights. We also conducted a global Modern Slavery audit survey in FY2025 through the country HR leads. |
Priority risks for this organisation (3 of 3)
Facilities Management: Possible exploitation of migrant workers subcontracted through labour hire companies. Sonic relies on external suppliers for cleaning services for its facilities.
| Questions we asked about this risk | Organisation’s response |
|---|---|
| Where it was most likely to occur |
Organisation’s response:
Within your supply chains.
|
| Who was it most likely to affect |
Organisation’s response:
|
| In which country | Organisation’s response: United Kingdom |
| Actions or plans to address this risk | Organisation’s response: Ongoing refinement of our online human rights and modern slavery training module to ensure it is fit for purpose and accessible to employees, allowing us to continually build awareness amongst our employees. Continuing to use the Human Rights/ Modern Slavery Supplier Questionnaire as a foundational activity to gather information on our suppliers’ operational and supply chain processes Continuing to use findings from our internal audits, to further enhance our operational processes. |
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
Organisation’s response
The organisation told us its statement does not refer to finding any International Labour Organization (ILO) indicators of forced labour.
Demonstrating progress (optional)
We asked the organisation how its statement demonstrates progress over time in addressing modern slavery risks.
They provided the following answer:
In FY2025, we actively worked with suppliers, industry peers, shareholder groups, key staff and other stakeholders to identify potential risks of modern slavery in our operations and supply chains, using our modern slavery risk management framework. We also performed additional due diligence across a number of higher-risk suppliers. While we did not identify any instances of modern slavery, we did find opportunities for improvement and will encourage suppliers to better mitigate these risks.