WGC Limited has been operating as a provider of housekeeping and cleaning services to the hospitality Industry throughout the UK for over 40 years. WGC Limited have over 5000 staff members that work in various client properties throughout the United Kingdom. WGC is committed to preventing acts of modern slavery and human trafficking from occurring within the business and have very limited procurement activity and no onward supply chain to rely upon. We have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and are fully committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in our operation. We have taken concrete steps to tackle modern slavery, as outlined in our statement. This statement sets out the actions that we have taken to understand all potential modern slavery risks related to our business, and to implement steps to prevent slavery and human trafficking during the financial year 2022/23.

WGC Structure

WGC Limited operate across a full range hospitality sectors including housekeeping services within the hotel sector, education, window cleaning and specialist cleaning. In order to perform its customer contracts, WGC Limited provides labour to its clients and ensures that it takes steps to ensure that all clients and members agree to comply with its policies, which aim to eliminate modern slavery and human trafficking from the business. WGC’s client locations are broad within the United Kingdom in Scotland, Wales and England. WGC works with large corporate clients and smaller businesses who all work to eliminate the prospect of modern slavery and human trafficking. Each location within the business is managed by experienced Managers who promote each of our policies and report to their Operation Directors and the CEO of WGC Limited. We have a very small amount of procurement, limited to chemicals, equipment and sundries all sourced from reputable companies within the UK. As WGC is committed to protecting the environment we predominantly source our chemicals which is environmental friendly.

Our Clients

WGC Limited establish a relationship of trust and integrity with all our clients, which is built upon mutually beneficial factors. We base our client selection on due diligence of the client’s reputation, and their respect for the law, compliance with health, safety and environmental standards, and references. We also encourage our clients to audit us on a regular basis on all aspects of our business process including our Modern Slavery procedures. We are full members of the Ethical Trade Initiative and had to undergo a robust process to obtain this status. This was endorsed by the Trade Union that we have close links with. WGC have not been made aware of any allegations of human trafficking/slavery activities against any of our clients, but if we were, then we would act immediately against the client and report it to the authorities. WGC is continually enhancing its policies and procedures to ensure that it only works with clients who operate to the ethical standards that WGC expects.

Employee Training and Whistleblowing

WGC Limited recognise the importance of engaging with our teams on vitally important matters including our policies that relate to modern slavery and human trafficking. Our Intranet – Central, offers a communications platform allowing for increased awareness, identification and reporting of any potential breaches of our policies. We have also introduced an “e-learning” course which provides training to our employees on a wide variety of subjects including modern slavery. Each employee is updated on any changes to these policies throughout the year and this is also reviewed annually. WGC Senior national management team meet quarterly to receive training and updates on all aspect of modern slavery and human trafficking. WGC have a dedicated HR helpline available to all of its employees throughout the business which, has a less than 12 hours response period. The HR helpline is a fully confidential communication tool and protects the identity of employees for all acts of whistleblowing.

Risk Assessments

In the past year WGC have/been/ensure:
• Audited by major clients
• Have reported on our Ethical Trade Initiatives
• Identified potentially vulnerable groups
• Met with team members and conduct internal audits on each location 4 weekly
• Only pay employees direct into their personal bank account
• Provide each employee with an employment contract that contains a reasonable
notice period for terminating their employment
• Ensured they don't require employees to surrender their passports or work permits
as a condition of employment
WGC have not been made aware of any allegations of human trafficking/slavery activities within the business.

Policies

• Modern Slavery Policy
• Disciplinary, Grievance and Appeal Policy which ensures fair and transparent procedures are followed at all times

Awareness

WGC have produced posters across every location relating to modern slaver and human trafficking which have been translated into different languages. Important subjects and notices are advertised on our Intranet Central page and WGC Hub which all employees have full access to at any time. As a member of the Ethical Trade Initiative, WGC have further produced Ethical Trade posters explaining the Base Code in every location through the business.

This statement was issued on 28 March 2024 and has been approved by the board of WGC Limited.