Festool UK Ltd supports the elimination of all forms of modern slavery and works to assess and prevent the risk of modern slavery and hidden labour exploitation occurring in our business and supply chain. This modern slavery statement is issued in accordance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 to share the key actions we have taken to prevent instances of modern slavery and human trafficking in our business and supply chain with a particular focus on the actions undertaken during the financial year ending 31 December 2023.

Our Company Structure and Business
Festool UK Ltd and its affiliates are part of the TTS Group, organised under the ultimate parent company TTS Tooltechnic Systems AG & Co. KG, Germany. The principal activity of Festool UK Ltd is the distribution of high-quality power tools and pneumatic tools, including accessories and consumables in UK, which are produced by its German affiliate Festool GmbH and sold under the Festool brand through a selective distribution system in a qualified network of authorised specialist dealers.

Our supply chains
We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business. We do not believe that there is any modern slavery or human trafficking occurring in our direct business, and take a zero-tolerance approach to the same. We establish a relationship of trust and integrity with all our suppliers, which is built upon a mutual understanding of human rights and our responsibility towards all the people we deal with. Our supplier selection and on-boarding procedure includes due diligence of the supplier’s reputation, respect for the law, compliance with health, safety and environmental standards and references. We will not work with any suppliers who have demonstrably and repeatedly failed to comply with the basic International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards.

Policies in relation to slavery and human trafficking
Since 1925, the TTS Group has stood for innovative strength, outstanding quality and reliability, particularly with its core brand Festool. As a now globally active group, we feel committed to the values of a family business. In doing so, we think about the long-term and act in a responsible manner: we believe economic success must always be paired with social and environmental responsibility. Festool’s environmental policy and vision can be found under https://www.festool.com/company/typically-festool/environment#Ourvision. In addition to outstanding reliability, our understanding of our company and our corporate culture are shaped by transparency, integrity, and sustainability. These are the standards for our everyday actions and for how we interact with our business partners. We are committed to permanently improve our practices and banish acts of modern slavery and human trafficking from within our business and from within our supply chains.

Training on modern slavery and trafficking
We regularly train our new employees on compliance and also our existing employees who are exposed to particular risks. We have an anti-corruption policy in place and offer possibilities to report compliance violations anonymously. Our employees are expected to report concerns and our management is expected to act upon them.

Due diligence processes in our business and supply chain
Our key due diligence processes related to modern slavery include:

New employees
We undertake checks for each new employee to ensure that the individual has the legal right to work in the UK and will receive their salary directly and not be paid to a third party. As part of the employee’s on-boarding process, our HR team is required to obtain a physical copy of an employee’s Right to Work evidence in line with Home Office guidance. All wages are then paid electronically using bank account details which must match the employee’s personal details on their Right to Work evidence. Where such details do not match, the HR team undertakes further investigation.

Supplier on-boarding
All new suppliers are required to go through our supplier on-boarding process. This requires Festool UK Ltd to obtain a copy of the supplier’s modern slavery statement where it is required to hold one under the Modern Slavery Act. We commit all our suppliers to our Code of Conduct, which defines key basic principles for economical, socially responsible, and sustainable action. It defines our basic understanding of partnership and collaboration and provides guidelines on compliance issues as well as environmental and social standards. Our Code of Conduct for Business Partners can be found under https://www.festool.com/suppliers#productgroups.

Risk assessment and management
Festool UK Ltd considers that a significant risk of modern slavery could come from agency workers sourced from labour providers. We only use a limited number of approved agencies and work proactively and collaboratively with them on modern slavery prevention and awareness. We are not aware of any allegations of human trafficking or slavery activities against any of our suppliers but if we were, then we would act immediately against the supplier and report it to the authorities. If other remedies would be not successful to end any such violation, we would end any business relationship to such supplier.

Key performance indicators to measure effectiveness of steps being taken
Festool UK Ltd will log, monitor and escalate any suspected instances of modern slavery (including through our whistleblowing processes). We measure the success and continual improvement of our efforts by a number of key performance indicators. These include the number of reports of modern slavery made to us, the number of investigations undertaken into reports of modern slavery, and the number of cases of modern slavery identified by us. During the year, there were no reports or observations of instances of modern slavery from within our business or within our supply chain.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes the Festool UK Ltd Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking statement for the financial year ended 31 December 2023.

This statement was approved by the Board of Directors in May 2024.

Signed on behalf of the Board by
Grant MacDonald (Managing Director)
Festool UK Ltd
Gottlieb Stoll House, 1 Anglo Saxon Way, Rougham
Bury St Edmunds, IP30 9XH