Introduction and organisation structure

Oak Furnitureland launched in 2006. We’ve since evolved into one of the UK’s largest omnichannel furniture retailers, with 70 showrooms across the UK. To support our operations, we have a major distribution centre in Swindon, and other smaller distribution hubs across the UK.

From our furniture to our people, our brand has been built on quality and authenticity, with honesty, integrity and transparency woven into all that we do. As such, we operate a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery.

Modern Slavery is defined by the UK Government as the recruitment, movement, harbouring or receiving of children, women or men through the use of force, coercion, abuse of vulnerability, deception or other means for the purpose of exploitation.

It is estimated that 50 million people worldwide are victims of modern slavery today. As a leading UK retailer, we recognise our responsibility in preventing and eliminating such practices within our supply chain, and are committed to taking proactive and measurable steps to ensure ethical sourcing and fair labour practices.

Policies on modern slavery and human trafficking

We have developed a series of steps that help us to mitigate the risks of slavery or human trafficking within our own business and across our supplier base, built on a transparent approach, which we have detailed further below.

We are members of Sedex, a world leader in responsible sourcing, and through this we have access to its platform for ethical supply chain data exchange to further help us operate ethically, source responsibly and identify any potential issues or non-compliances in our supply chain.

Across all our UK and global supply chain operations we have implemented a Code of Conduct, which applies to all persons working for us or on our behalf, including (but not limited to) suppliers, agency workers, seconded workers, volunteers, interns, agents, contractors, external consultants, third-party representatives and business partners. This policy is based on the Ethical Trading Initiative (‘ETI’) base code, which is internationally recognised as the benchmark standard for ethical assurance. All of our suppliers are required to commit to working with us towards our Code of Conduct.

Supply chain risk assessment and due diligence

We have developed a structured approach to mitigate the risks of slavery and human trafficking across our operations and supplier base. Our key policies and initiatives include:

• Sedex membership: We are members of Sedex, a global leader in ethical supply chain management, which provides us with access to responsible sourcing data and risk assessment tools. We use the platform’s data to further help us operate ethically, source responsibly, and identify any potential issues or non-compliances in our supply chain.
• Code of Conduct: Our supplier Code of Conduct, based on the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) Base Code, applies to all employees, contractors, suppliers, agency workers, and business partners. All suppliers must commit to working towards these standards, which are internationally recognised as the benchmark standard for ethical assurance.
• Contractual compliance: Our supplier agreements explicitly require compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and our Code of Conduct.

Supply chain risk assessment and due diligence

Through our Sedex membership, we’re able to map our tier-one supply chain to give us visibility of all sites where our products are made.

Through Sedex’s risk assessment tool, we use pre-screen reports to help us identify any potential risks. All suppliers are then required to complete a Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ), which details specific operational activities associated with modern slavery risks. Each supplier is then awarded a Sedex risk score, which combines trusted data on both country and sector risks, with information about our suppliers’ individual profiles.

Following this, we conduct announced and semi-announced ethical audits and site visits both in the UK and abroad, to gain first-hand visibility of working conditions and the welfare of workers across our supply chain. We adhere to Sedex’s audit methodology, SMETA, which is the most widely used social auditing methodology across the globe.

Within our ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) team, we have colleagues both in the UK and Southeast Asia. This ensures we have representatives working closely with our suppliers to uphold our compliance requirements and make sure ethical, social and environmental standards are upheld.

We take a robust approach to compliance, and where nonconformities are found, suppliers are required to develop and submit a corrective action plan (CAP) detailing agreed remediation measures within a strict timeframe. Violations of our code of conduct directly impact a supplier’s grade and could jeopardise their status as one of our approved suppliers.

Supply chain - Merchandise suppliers

Our active merchandise supply chain (providers of materials and goods) spans across eight countries, with 59 active factories in the following countries:

Country	Count of factories
China	22
Vietnam	17
India	1
UK	15
Italy	1
North Macedonia	1
Turkey	1
Lithuania	1
Grand total:	59

Data as of January 2025

Approximately 95% of our active merchandise supply base is registered with Sedex, affording essential visibility of our supply chain. The majority of our suppliers have undergone recognised third-party ethical audits, including Sedex SMETA.

To further strengthen our approach, in 2024, we conducted audits for 25 of our largest suppliers across our Asia supply base. These audits are benchmarked against the ETI base code and have increased by over 66% year on year. This progress has been driven by the appointment of an ESG Compliance Coordinator in Vietnam, significantly enhancing our ability to monitor and improve compliance.

We work closely with our non-merchandise supply chain (providers of services and items not for sale), to continue to uphold and ever-strengthen compliance standards.

We will further report on our progress within the next 12 months.

Measuring effectiveness

Our commitment to a no-tolerance policy to modern slavery and human rights abuse is an always-on process.

Through our Sedex membership, our SMETA audit reports include root-cause analysis of any issues that may arise and Corrective Action Plans (CAP) help resolve non-compliances. We work directly with suppliers to action changes and resolve any issues, which are then verified by external auditors affiliated with Sedex. We then closely monitor and track supplier progress.

We refuse to allow complacency and always continue to assess performance and identify areas we can improve.

Training for colleagues

We have updated the terms and conditions we have with our major suppliers ensuring compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. This includes a requirement that our suppliers adhere to our Code of Conduct at all times and operate a workplace that respects workers’ basic human and legal rights.

Our teams continue to work with all our immediate overseas suppliers to ensure they conduct their business with the same commitment to ethical business practices as we do. Senior colleagues in our commercial team have extensive experience of working with factories, and understand the importance of adhering to quality and ethical standards. Working to improve human rights issues is an integral part of their managerial positions and they regularly visit our major overseas suppliers to ensure compliance.

Through our Sedex membership, we are able to access e-Learning and training programmes on labour standards and prevention of forced labour, which form part of our colleague training.

Conclusion

This Modern Slavery Statement affirms our unwavering commitment to operating with integrity and underpins our rigorous approach to upholding ethical and social values, whilst achieving a positive working relationship, transparency, and ultimately, improvement across our supply chain.

We recognise our approach to modern slavery must be dynamic and continue to develop and expand in order to adapt to emerging humanitarian challenges. Therefore, we will strive to forge stronger partnerships with our suppliers, as well as seeking to collaborate with advocacy groups alongside other brands and retailers, to identify and tackle the risks of modern slavery.

This policy statement will be reviewed and published annually. It has been approved by our Board of Directors and signed on their behalf by our Chief Executive Officer, Alex Fisher.

2025