Policies & Statements

Financial Times Modern Slavery Statement

The Financial Times (FT) does not tolerate modern slavery or human trafficking in our organisation or in our supply chain.

Our Code of Conduct (Code), which sets out the standards we expect of all staff, makes clear that we support universal human rights, including equal employment, freedom of speech and of association, and cultural, economic and social well-being. We strongly oppose illegal or inhumane labour practices, including slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour and human trafficking. You can read more about this in the Corporate Social Responsibility section of our Code of Conduct.

The FT is committed to tackling slavery through the assessment of risk in our supply chain, due diligence on our suppliers, and awareness-raising activities both within the FT and more broadly through our journalism and events.

If you have any queries about this statement or our approach to modern slavery, please contact pressoffice@ft.com.

Our group structure

Financial Times Group Limited is a private limited company incorporated in England and Wales and wholly owned by Nikkei Inc. incorporated in Japan. It is the holding company for the Financial Times group of companies (“FT Group”) with subsidiaries and branches in countries and regions such as the UK, USA, Japan, Singapore, The Philippines, Mainland China and Hong Kong (SAR), Germany, The Netherlands, Bulgaria, France, Spain and commercial and smaller editorial operations in a number of other countries. The Financial Times Limited (“FT”), incorporated in England and Wales, is the principal trading entity within FT Group.

FT Group is one of the world’s leading business news and information organisations, publishing a range of titles digitally and in print, and running conferences and events. We have over 2,900 staff globally. More detailed information about our business can be found here.

Responsibility

The FT Group management board takes its commitments to preventing modern slavery and protecting human rights very seriously, and has responsibility for producing this statement.

The Legal and Compliance, Internal Audit, People, Procurement and Communications teams, plus the Senior Management Group and other line managers, have a particular responsibility for ensuring the FT Group and its staff meet these standards, that our workers are protected, and that risks are identified and appropriately mitigated. All staff throughout our organisation have responsibility for adhering to the standards set out in this statement.

Our supply chain

When defining its procurement processes, the FT Procurement team adopted the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) Framework thereby ensuring, where appropriate, that all procurement is conducted in an ethical and sustainable manner.

FT procures many different goods and services from a range of suppliers, the large majority of which are based in advanced OECD countries, mainly UK, USA and in Europe. These include:
printing, publishing and distribution services for our newspaper and magazines;
the supply of newsprint, which is mainly from Finland, South Korea and the US;
the hire of venues on a worldwide basis for our conferences and events;
the purchase of IT hardware and software;
facilities services, including travel management and building services for our offices around the world;
branding and marketing of our products and services;
recruitment and training;
customer services;
professional services of advisors such as lawyers and auditors; and
freelance editorial staff, including journalists.

Whilst we generally operate in low risk areas, we have identified some areas of risk within our supply chain. This assessment is based on the country risk i.e. suppliers in countries where slavery is more prevalent based on the Global Slavery Index; and the industry risk i.e. some industries in which we operate are more vulnerable to slavery than others.

We consistently work with areas of the business that have been identified as medium risk to establish further steps that we can take, and are taking, to strengthen our approach and to ensure good working practices. This has included in-depth reviews of printing, distribution and our global conferences and events business.

Due diligence on our suppliers

Since 2016 we have worked hard to improve and embed our supply chain risk assessment and due diligence process. Our procurement system helps us to assess the risks involved in the supply of goods and services for all new suppliers and where risk exists, targeted modern slavery due diligence is carried out. The procurement system also enables us to complete periodic reviews of due diligence and take appropriate action, particularly where a risk of slavery exists in a country or industry.

Our risk assessment and targeted modern slavery due diligence processes enable us to evaluate risk based on the following criteria:

location and industry, using data from the Global Slavery Index;
the stance the supplier takes on modern slavery, including the content of their modern slavery statement and the training the supplier provides to its key staff;
steps taken to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in their business or supply chains, including whether the supplier is active in any of the highest risk countries or sectors.

This helps us to make appropriate decisions regarding whether, and how, we work with those suppliers.

In addition to this formal due diligence process, our personnel working in medium risk areas, as identified above, are encouraged to maintain close working relationships with their suppliers, including on-site visits to distributors and print sites.

Our journalism

FT has always maintained its editorial independence, allowing us to engage more broadly with this topic through our reporting and to raise awareness of human rights issues including anti-slavery within business.

Over the years we have regularly published articles about slavery covering, for example: slavery in food and agriculture; the prevalence and dangers of online exploitation; forced labour in the UK; tightening standards in supply chains and the importance of responsible investing.

Our journalism continues to raise awareness of modern slavery and its prevalence globally, including highlighting the increase in modern slavery and reporting on the importance of conducting due diligence on suppliers in the supply chain. Our most recent coverage on the topic of modern slavery on ft.com can be found here.

Internal awareness raising and training

We believe it is important to ensure our staff understand the issues of modern slavery and our commitments, as a business, to upholding high ethical standards. Our key personnel regularly attend external events to broaden their knowledge and understanding of modern slavery and use this to raise awareness among key teams across the business.

We understand that modern slavery is not a static issue and therefore we are committed to continuing our efforts to raise awareness of the impact of slavery across the globe. We hold annual internal events to coincide with Anti-Slavery Day to raise awareness among staff, as well as rolling out additional workshops and training, both online and face-to-face. This reinforces our continued commitment to act ethically and to meet our obligations to prevent modern slavery.

Our staff

We have staff based in a number of countries and regions around the world, including the UK and Europe, USA, The Philippines, Mainland China and Hong Kong (SAR). We strongly believe our staff should be treated fairly and decently wherever they are based.

Our Code of Conduct applies to all FT staff globally; all staff are required to certify that they have read and understood our Code of Conduct on an annual basis. Our values mean we respect the human rights and dignity of people. We support universal human rights, including equal employment, freedom of speech and of association, and cultural, economic and social well-being. We oppose illegal or inhumane labour practices, including slavery, servitude, forced or compulsory labour and human trafficking.

The Code highlights to staff that FT’s business partners, including suppliers, vendors and distributors, are expected to meet the same high standards as FT when working on our behalf. In addition, our Code requires all staff to report any known or possible violations of laws, regulations or the Code to FT management or using the mechanisms outlined in our Whistleblowing Policy.

Our company policies aim to ensure a fair approach to all of our staff covering areas such as dignity at work, equal opportunities, and anti-discrimination including during recruitment, promotion and performance management. We operate a fair approach to recruitment in all regions and ensure that there is no discrimination either in the application process or once an employee is engaged. We also have favourable policies covering maternity, paternity and shared parental leave, where statutory requirements are always met and in some cases enhanced.

We are committed to paying a fair wage to all employees, always adhering to minimum wage legislation and guidelines. In London we ensure that all employees, including interns, are paid the recommended London Living Wage as a minimum. Our salaries are regularly reviewed in all regions to ensure that all employees are fairly remunerated for the jobs they do. We ensure that staff in all regions have fair working hours which adhere to local legislation and recommended guidelines, and include paid holiday days which meet and often exceed statutory requirements.

Our continued work

FT Group remains committed to our zero tolerance approach to modern slavery and human trafficking in our organisation and in our supply chain. This is our tenth annual statement and sets out the key steps we have taken in the financial year ending 31 December 2024 and provides information about the actions we are planning to take during 2025.

Since our last statement we have taken the following steps in our continued efforts to ensure that slavery and human trafficking is not taking place in our organisation or in our supply chain:

We successfully organised and hosted an annual event as part of Anti-Slavery Day 2024, raising awareness about the signs, dangers, and consequences of modern slavery. This included internal communications to all employees, reminding them of our stance on modern slavery. In addition, we recirculated our thorough modern slavery training resources to all staff, offering clear instructions on identifying potential risks within our supply chain and reporting concerns.
The print and distribution team have further applied the skills acquired during the bespoke training that we delivered to them on how to monitor on-the-ground operations at print sites. This ensures that our key employees are able to identify signs of modern slavery and know how to raise concerns about potential risks.
We developed a Supplier Code of Conduct that sets clear expectations around ethical practices, including a specific commitment to preventing modern slavery, respecting human rights, and promoting safe, fair, and non-discriminatory working conditions throughout the supply chain.
Developments to our procurement system enabled more targeted modern slavery risk assessment and due diligence processes. This included tailoring our approach based on the countries in which suppliers operate and the services they provide. The improved system automatically issues repeat due diligence checks for suppliers assessed as higher risk and is now integrated with our finance system, enhancing controls around adherence to our Procurement Policy. This integration strengthened our ability to ensure thorough due diligence for all identified suppliers.
We continued to share our Modern Slavery Statement with suppliers who complete our modern slavery due diligence to reiterate our zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery and human trafficking in our organisation and in our supply chain. This communication reinforces the high standards we expect from all those suppliers we work with.
In collaboration with our Legal team, we developed appropriate controls where we contract on our standard terms with suppliers. These measures help to ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking should not take place within our supply chain.
We reviewed and refreshed our modern slavery training materials and created additional summary guidance documents tailored for the business. This has helped to ensure staff can quickly understand their responsibilities and enabled us to effectively educate more staff on how to recognise and address modern slavery risks.

We plan to take the following steps in 2025 to further develop our anti-slavery programme:

We will organise and host another annual Anti-Slavery Day event to raise awareness of the signs, dangers and consequences of modern slavery to ensure all of our staff remain educated on this important topic.
We will further review and update our modern slavery training materials to create an interactive e-learning module. This module will include real-life scenarios, quizzes, and practical guidance to ensure participants gain a clear understanding of the risks of modern slavery and feel confident taking action if they ever need to.
The print and distribution team will continue to use the skills acquired during their training to monitor on-the-ground operations at print sites. This ensures that our key employees are able to identify signs of modern slavery and know how to raise concerns about potential risks.
We will continue to share our Modern Slavery Statement with higher risk suppliers, who complete our modern slavery due diligence, to emphasise our zero tolerance approach to modern slavery and human trafficking in our organisation and in our supply chain and to reinforce the standards expected of our suppliers.
We will establish key performance indicators (KPIs) that assist us in measuring the effectiveness of the steps we are taking to address modern slavery. This will help us to identify risks, track progress, and ensure accountability in addressing modern slavery within supply chains and operations.

Approval

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes Financial Times Group Limited’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ended 31 December 2024.

Approved by the board of directors and signed on behalf of Financial Times Group Limited by James Lund, CFO.

Financial Times Modern Slavery Statement 2016

Financial Times Modern Slavery Statement 2017

Financial Times Modern Slavery Statement 2018

Financial Times Modern Slavery Statement 2019

Financial Times Modern Slavery Statement 2020

Financial Times Modern Slavery Statement 2021

Financial Times Modern Slavery Statement 2022

Financial Times Modern Slavery Statement 2023