Ethical Trading

At OB, we are committed to sourcing the highest quality products from many countries with diverse cultures and economies. We value long-standing trusting relationships with our suppliers, and we commit to working in a transparent and open manner with them all.

We have developed our OB Supplier Code of Conduct so that we are crystal clear with our suppliers about the minimum ethical standards we expect, such as ensuring Living Wages are paid and working hours are not excessive. We monitor and audit our suppliers against this Code to ensure they treat their employees fairly. We value long-term relationships with our suppliers and in addition to these audits, our buyers are continually in contact with our suppliers.

We are proud to be a member of the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) since 2017, which is a leading alliance of companies, trade unions and NGOs that promotes respect for workers’ rights around the globe. We are an active member of ETI, working closely with other members to work in partnership on projects aimed at tackling key ethical trade issues and high-risk areas.

We are a member of Sedex, which is a collaborative platform for sharing responsible sourcing data on supply chains. We wanted to reduce the administrative burden on our suppliers. The system allows us to track any ethical audits our suppliers have already obtained and gives further visibility in factory and workforce details.

Modern Slavery Act

In line with the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, we have published our fourth Modern Slavery Statement. We recognise we have a responsibility to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking throughout our organisation and in our supply chain and this recent statement highlights the progress we have made. Please read our latest statement here:

Cotton Sourcing

There are real and ongoing concerns about the use of Government-backed forced labour and child labour during the cotton harvest season in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Additionally, there are reports of forced labour within Muslim communities on cotton plantations in Xinjiang, Uygur Autonomous Region. Oliver Bonas is joining other retailers, trade unions and NGOs to voice our concern about this practice. Oliver Bonas has banned the use of cotton from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Uygur Autonomous Region in our products.

If you have any questions on how we work with our suppliers to make sure our products are sourced responsibly