Modern Slavery Act

Attends Ltd. (“Attends”) is committed to the principles of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and to preventing acts of modern slavery and human trafficking from occurring within both its business and supply chain. This statement sets out the steps taken by Attends during its financial year ending 31 December 2024 to prevent slavery and human trafficking from taking place in any of its supply chains or in any part of its business.

Attends engages in the distribution of incontinence and continence care products for men and women worldwide. The products distributed by Attends are manufactured by Attends Healthcare AB, Attends affiliated company in Sweden. It serves customers and the NHS through wholesalers, retail, online and pharmacies. The company is based in Wakefield, United Kingdom. 

Attends engages in the distribution of incontinence and continence care products for men and women worldwide. The products distributed by Attends are manufactured by Attends Healthcare AB, Attends affiliated company in Sweden. It serves customers and the NHS through wholesalers, retail, online and pharmacies. The company is based in Wakefield, United Kingdom. 

Attends (and Attends Healthcare AB) are part of Attindas Hygiene Partners group (“Attindas”), which has production facilities in Europe and North America. 

We respect human rights. The Attindas Code of Conduct specifies that:

“Respect for Human Rights is one of our fundamental values. Through our actions and policies, we strive to respect and promote Human Rights in our relationships with our People and our business partners. Our aim is to help increase the enjoyment of Human Rights within the communities where we operate. We expect our People and our business partners to avoid causing or contributing to Human Rights infringements through their business actions. […] We do not tolerate: The use of forced labor or involuntary prison labor in any form, including any human trafficking and slavery”.

Our Human Rights policy reinforces this statement, and specifies that:

“We do not use forced labor, nor do we tolerate the use of forced labor by our contractors and suppliers, and under no circumstances do we tolerate physically abusive disciplinary practices. Attindas does not use, and is strongly against, human trafficking in its labor force or that of its contractors and suppliers”. 

We are also committed to sourcing responsibly and ensuring that our Suppliers conduct their operations in a socially responsible manner. The Attindas Code of Conduct specifies that:

“Transparency and sustainability are critical elements to our Supply Chain. We expect our Suppliers to follow the standards of our Code, or otherwise act in a manner consistent with our standards. We must ensure that our ethical expectations are understood and respected by all Suppliers wherever they operate”. 

In addition, Attindas has in place a robust Compliance Program encompassing the following key elements:

• Code of Conduct
• Different policies (including, Anti-bribery policies, Antitrust policies, Human Rights Policy and a Whistleblower Protection Policy
• Online learning platform (Attindas Academy), with training on Ethics, Antibribery, Antitrust or Privacy related matters
• Whistleblower Site for employees, and for our business partners (customers, suppliers, etc.): https://report.whistleb.com/en/attindasexternal
• Screening tool for Antibribery and Export compliance purposes
• Designation of a Compliance Officer

Moreover, Attindas has in place an ESG Program which includes, among other initiatives, the designation of a ESG Committee, Setting ESG goals, targets and ambitions, and providing measurability and accountability.

As part of Attindas ESG commitment, Attindas is a participant to the UN Global Compact and supports the UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions).

Attindas is implementing a program for the evaluation and approval of Suppliers from an ESG perspective. Suppliers must meet Attindas ESG Requirements for Suppliers. In particular, Suppliers are required to meet the following Human Rights requirements:

2.2.1. Human Rights

• Suppliers must respect the human rights of their employees and treat them with dignity. For more details on our approach, refer to our Human Rights policy.
• Attindas does not use child or forced labor in any of our operations, and we expect our suppliers to uphold the same standards. We will not work with suppliers who use child, prison, indentured, or bonded labor, or those who use physical or mental coercion as discipline.
• Suppliers must ensure they treat workers fairly, avoiding any form of harassment, discrimination, or abuse.
• At a minimum, suppliers must follow all relevant wage, hour, and labor laws, including rules on minimum wage, overtime, and working hours.

To evaluate that, Suppliers are requested to complete specific questionnaires and provide relevant documentation on Quality, Regulatory, Environmental, Human Rights & Social and Ethics matters. Only Suppliers which meet our ESG standards are approved. The risk of modern slavery is specifically evaluated. 

In addition to the above, Attends Healthcare AB requests social audits (e.g. SMETA) to certain Suppliers located in countries of risk.

We take compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 seriously, and do not tolerate slavery and human trafficking within our supply chains, as expressly stated in Attindas Code of Conduct. If we were to find evidence that one of our suppliers was involved in modern slavery or human trafficking, we would investigate those allegations and consider terminating our relationship with them if the incidents were not resolved to our satisfaction.

Given our view that Attends’ exposure to modern slavery risk is limited, we have not implemented any specific training or key performance indicators in relation to modern slavery and human trafficking during the previous financial year. However, all employees have to complete their Code of Conduct training via mandatory e-learning, and participation in this training is regularly monitored and reported to the Board.

As mentioned above, we have plans to evaluate the feasibility of setting goals related to the assessment of our suppliers for social impacts. In such case, we will establish systems to monitor and track indicators in relation to that commitment (e.g. number of suppliers assessed for social impacts, percentage of new suppliers that were screened using social criteria). We will strive to make sure we know the effectiveness of the steps we take to ensure that slavery and/or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain.

As mentioned above, Attindas will set goals related to the evaluation of Suppliers from a Social and Human Rights perspective. We will establish systems to monitor and track indicators in relation to that commitment (e.g. number and percentage of Suppliers assessed for Social and Human Rights impacts). We will strive to make sure we know the effectiveness of the steps we take to ensure that slavery and/or human trafficking is not taking place within our business or supply chain.

We support the government's objective to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking and acknowledge our role in both combating it and supporting victims. We’re committed to make sure our supply chains and business activities are free from ethical and labour standards abuse.

This statement is made following the principles of Section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and is valid for the financial year commencing 1 January 2025 and ending 31 December 2025.

Last Updated: 4th February 2025