Introduction

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the “Act”) is a UK law that came into force in 2015. The Act requires commercial organisations with an annual turnover of more than £36 million to publish a slavery and human trafficking statement for each financial year. As a major provider of insurance broking and associated services, Ardonagh Group Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries (“The Ardonagh Group”, “Group” or “Ardonagh”) is fully supportive of the Act and adopts a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery in all forms in our organisation and across our suppliers. As required by the Act, this statement sets out the steps taken by the relevant companies in The Ardonagh Group to which the Act applies during the financial year ended 31 December 2023 to combat slavery and human trafficking in our business and supply chains.

Our business

The Ardonagh Group is a highly diversified, leading independent insurance broker based in the United Kingdom operating at scale across numerous segments of the non-life insurance market in the UK and internationally. We distribute our insurance products across multiple channels, including through a network of over 120 local offices in the UK and more than 150 offices worldwide, and online.

The Ardonagh Group operates through four industry-leading platforms each trading through leading customer-facing brands:

  • Ardonagh UK Advisory is our UK property and casualty (“P&C”) advice-led, community-focused set of businesses with an unrivalled local footprint of experts across sectors and specialisms.
  • Ardonagh International Advisory is our rapidly growing international P&C platform comprised of Ardonagh Europe and Ardonagh Global Partners with an expanding presence across Europe, Australia and Brazil.

Together Ardonagh UK Advisory and Ardonagh International Advisory make up Ardonagh Global Broking.

  • Ardonagh Specialty includes the largest independent wholesale broker in the London Market with offices around the globe and several specialist brands with expertise in specialist underwriting of bespoke global complex risks.
  • Ardonagh Retail platform houses our UK digital-focused personal lines brands which offer home, motor and pet insurance alongside a range of specialist personal and small business insurance products.

More information about our business can be found at: http://www.ardonagh.com.

Our supply chains

Our supply chains include business partners in the provision of insurance services such as insurance companies, brokers and distributors; and also providers of other services necessary to run our business effectively, such as IT, payroll, and facilities.

Recruitment practices

We recognise the right of each employee to freedom of association, including the right to join trade unions. We ensure that we comply with employment legislation as regards child employment and we do not employ people who do not have the right to work in the UK.

Due diligence and contracting

The companies in The Ardonagh Group to which the Act applies have standardised the policy in procurement across the Group, under the procurement and supplier relationship management policy and mandates due diligence needs to cover modern slavery. A question set and declaration called Know Your Supplier (KYS) is the key document for due diligence on which we assess our potential suppliers who supply goods or services above a specified value relevant to that section of the business. This includes a section on slavery and human trafficking. All businesses within The Ardonagh Group should be using the KYS, and any businesses acquired into the Group will be required to adopt this as part of the controls on integration. For all key supplier contracts, specific wording is required relating to modern slavery, and forms part of the sign-off process.

Further steps

As part of the rollout of our Group policies and business standards, it was recognised that there was a need to clearly articulate the minimum standards required to comply with the Modern Slavery Act and for these to be adopted and embedded across all the relevant businesses within The Ardonagh Group to which the Act applies. This was rolled out in early 2019, to ensure a consistent approach going forward.

As part of our annual review a supplier health check has been completed which includes compliance with the Act.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 31 December 2023.

The board of directors of the Group holding company, Ardonagh Group Holdings Limited, approved this statement on 27 March 2024.

David Ross
Group CEO