Our group services director, Ciara Pryce, has been named one of the top 100 Modern Slavery influencers.
The inaugural 2018 Annual UK Top100 Corporate Modern Slavery Influencers’ Index recognises people from all sectors who are leading awareness to end modern slavery and labour exploitation.
The index was developed by BRE Group and Sustain Worldwide to recognise best practice in human rights recognition in UK business operations and global supply chains. Individuals are included on the list based on their influence on social media and advocacy in public life.
“I’m immensely proud to be named amongst the top 100 influencers in raising awareness of modern slavery,” said Ciara. “Modern slavery has been described as a crime hidden in plain sight. The Global Slavery Index 2016 estimated that around 11,700 people in the UK are living in modern slavery.
“We all need to be aware of the risks vulnerable people face from criminal gangs, and I am so pleased to be working with my colleagues at VGC Group to play our part. In particular, VGC’s achievement of the Ethical Labour Sourcing Standard was very much a joint effort across the whole company.”
One weapon in the armoury
Dr Shamir Ghumra, BREEAM director at BRE, led the development of the Ethical Labour Standard (ELS). The ELS supports business to meet its human rights challenges by providing a framework for verifying ethical labour sourcing. He said: “Every day, in Britain’s towns and cities, people are held against their will, exploited and trafficked.
“The ILO estimates modern slavery is a $150billion worldwide industry. Due to a lack of awareness of who is working in their global supply chains, organisations and companies in the UK are at risk of having modern slavery in their business. The 2018 Annual UK Top100 Corporate Modern Slavery Influencers’ Index is one weapon in the armoury to raise awareness to end modern slavery and labour exploitation, and to recognise those who are influencing the debate.”
The Top100 Corporate Modern Slavery Influencers will be recognised at a dinner on 26 September, to be hosted by Baroness Young of Hornsey OBE, who is a champion of human rights. It will be followed by the third annual Modern Slavery and Ethical Labour in Construction Leadership Symposium ‘Eradicating Modern Slavery: How Good Governance Demonstrates Leadership and Mitigates Risk’. Ciara will speak at the afternoon masterclass on risk mitigation structuring, facilitated by Helen Carter and James Cadman of Action Sustainability. Her element is entitled: ‘How does the labour provider reduce the risk of sub-contracting trafficked, exploited workers?’
The Top 100 influencers list pdf can be downloaded from the MSA4construction website.
LDC Top 50
In October 2018, Ciara was named as one of the LDC Top 50 Most Ambitious Business Leaders.
