Modern Slavery Statement for the Financial Year Ended 31st December, 2021

Introduction from the Managing Director of Beko plc

Beko plc (“we”, “us” or “our”) published its first Modern Slavery Statement in September 2017. We are committed to monitoring and improving our practices to combat slavery and human trafficking. This publication marks our fifth year of our Modern Slavery Statement. Our fifth statement highlights procedures we continually put in place to improve our high standard procedures against slavery and human trafficking.

Our Organisation's structure

We are a part of the Arcelik A.Ş. Group, which was founded in Turkey in 1955. Arçelik A.Ş. (the “Parent Company”) has more than 65 years’ experience in consumer durables and is one of the largest household appliance producers in Europe. It is also one of the leading home-appliance brands in Turkey, offering extensive and innovative ranges of both home appliances and consumer electronics.

With its 12 brands and more than 40,000 employees, Arcelik  operates in the fields of durable consumer goods and electronics including Research & Development, production, marketing and after-sales support services.  Our Parent Company has built a global organization network with 28 production facilities in 9 countries and 74 subsidiaries in 49 countries where the Parent Company introduces its products to its consumers.  In 2021, our Parent Company had a global annual turnover of 6,513 million Euros.

Our ultimate parent company is Koç Holdings A.Ş. (“Koç”).  Koç was founded in 1926 with its head office situated in Turkey.  It is Turkey’s biggest industrial and commercial conglomerate and continues to be one of the top 500 largest companies in the world.

Our business

In the United Kingdom, our head office is based in Watford. Our business was incorporated in England and Wales on 22 August 1989 with registration number 02415578. We employ over 300 people throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. We are responsible for the sale and distribution of home appliances (including but not limited to fridges, fridge-freezers, range-cookers, cookers, washing machines and dishwashers) to major retailers and distributors in the United Kingdom and Ireland. These currently include our Beko, Grundig, Leisure, Blomberg, Flavel and Zenith brands. We continue to expand our product repair service offered through our in-house and external Authorised Service Agents for all our major domestic appliances. In addition, we have launched our Small Domestic Appliances range solely under our Beko and Grundig brands.

Our supply chains

Our supply chain relates to the logistics of the import, sale and distribution of our products including our warehouses and our employees

Our policies on slavery and human trafficking

We continue to be committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business.  Our Anti-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 ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in our supply chains.

For more details about our requirements from our suppliers, including related policies, audit outcomes and targets, please see the below links and refer to our 2021 Sustainability Report:

  1. https://www.arcelikglobal.com/en/company/supply-chain/business-ethics-audits-reporting/
  2. https://www.arcelikglobal.com/en/company/supply-chain/our-sustainability-roadmap-with-our-suppliers/
  3. https://www.arcelikglobal.com/media/5553/responsible-purchasing-policy_en.pdf
  4. https://www.arcelikglobal.com/en/company/supply-chain/responsible-purchasing-policy-and-implementation-principles/
  5. https://www.arcelikglobal.com/media/6236/15_global-human-rights-policy-en-1.pdf
  6. https://www.arcelikglobal.com/media/6317/16_global-anti-discrimination-and-anti-harassment.pdf
  7. https://www.arcelikglobal.com/en/company/supply-chain/supplier-sustainability-index/
  8. 2021 Sustainability Report, pages 141-150: https://www.arcelikglobal.com/media/6938/arcelik21_sustainability_report.pdf

Due diligence processes for slavery and human trafficking

As part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk our Parent Company has in place systems to:

  • Identify and assess potential risk areas in our supply chains.
  • Mitigate the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our supply chains.
  • Monitor potential risk areas in our supply chains.
  • Protect whistle blowers.
  • Maintain an anti-bribery policy.

Supplier adherence to our values and ethics

We have a zero tolerance to slavery and human trafficking.  To ensure all those in our supply chain and contractors comply with our values, we have in place a rigorous supply chain compliance programme jointly with our Parent Company.  This includes a detailed questionnaire which we will continue to provide to new suppliers who will be providing services and for on-going audit purposes as appropriate.

Our Parent Company revised its code and published Global Code of Conduct and related Code Policies in 2019 in order to respond to our developing needs as the Company grows globally.  The Company has a dedicated Global Ethics Committee which is responsible for the functioning and smooth implementation of the Global Code of Conduct and related Policies.

Our Global Ethics Committee is a council consisting of CEO (Chair), CFO, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, Chief People Officer, and relevant Assistant General Managers.

Further details about our Global Compliance Program including Global Responsible Purchasing Policy are available from:

https://www.arcelikglobal.com/en/company/about-us/global-code-of-conduct/

At subsidiary level, our Company Secretary jointly with our Director of Human Resources have been charged with the responsibility of ensuring our adherence to the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the “Act”).

Training

To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our group supply chains and our business, our Parent Company equips its employees with skills and knowledge to enhance their awareness level.  As of 2019, our Parent Company created the Supplier Training Platform in order to inform suppliers in our organisational supply chain (“Suppliers”) about the sustainability efforts in the world and to share the requirements of Arçelik, national and international regulations in more detail on sustainability issues, Business Ethics and Working Conditions.  Our Parent Company continues to provide training with the participation of our suppliers and all purchasing personnel.  It is emphasized in this training that our Suppliers have to comply with the rules of the Modern Slavery Act.

Locally, we continue to increase the awareness of Modern Slavery in our business by enrolling relevant employees on courses run by recognised training service providers including Stronger2Gether Limited.

In addition, please see information about Supplier Trainings on page 147 of 2021 Arçelik Sustainability Report and on the web site from the below links:

Our effectiveness in combating slavery and human trafficking

Our Parent Company has appointed an independent third party, DQS Turkey to conduct an externally facilitated review to bring insights on ways to tackle slavery and human trafficking.

Between 2015-2021, 281 Suppliers of Arcelik AS from high and medium risk countries were audited for code of conduct and occupational safety through the agency of an independent institution.  In 2021, a total of 115 Suppliers were audited in the fields of business ethics and work safety through an independent audit firm.

You can reach the audit findings from the below link:

https://www.arcelikglobal.com/en/company/supply-chain/business-ethics-audits-reporting/

Future steps

Following a review of the effectiveness of the steps we have taken jointly with our Parent Company during the year to ensure that there is no slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains we will endeavour to tackle Modern Slavery issues as a continuous process.

In addition, we will continue to monitor our adherence to the Act by reviewing our policy annually.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our Group's slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 31st December 2021.


…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Teresa Arbuckle
Managing Director - Beko plc
2022

Previous Statements: 2020 |2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016