Our suppliers and subcontractors play a crucial role in our business, including in the construction of our homes. We set clear standards for suppliers on issues such as safety, quality and environmental performance and work with them to improve performance and tackle joint challenges.
We set clear standards for suppliers on issues such as safety, quality and environmental performance and work with them to improve performance and tackle joint challenges.
Our Supply Chain Policy sets standards for suppliers on safety, quality, ethics, human rights and the environment. Our Supplier Code of Conduct requires suppliers to respect workers’ human rights and prohibits all forms of modern slavery. It is embedded into our Framework Agreements (contracts) with Group suppliers (those managed by our Group procurement team).
We have integrated sustainability disclosure requirements into our digital tender system for Group suppliers covering employment standards, modern slavery, real living wage, environmental management, climate change, waste, packaging, nature and water.
We have quarterly review meetings with national partner suppliers who provide strategically important products. These reviews cover sustainability issues such as waste and packaging reduction, climate and water efficiency (depending on supplier category).
Human rights and modern slavery
We respect the human rights of our employees, workers in our supply chain, customers, local communities and others affected by our business activities. We are guided by international standards such as the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights.
We respect the labour rights of our employees and those working on our behalf, including the rights to freedom of assembly and association, and non-discrimination. We address these rights through our human resources policies and our work on issues such as health, safety and diversity.
We do not tolerate any form of slavery, forced labour, child labour or human trafficking in our business or supply chain. We have established our Modern Slavery Act multidisciplinary working party, to oversee our approach to due diligence and our work with suppliers to reduce modern slavery risks. In 2023, we required our tier 1 suppliers to confirm their compliance with our modern slavery policy.
We have been involved in a project with the Supply Chain Sustainability School to better understand human rights risks in the PV panel supply chain. Following this, we are engaging with our PV panel suppliers on their approach to mitigating human rights risks.
Read more in our Modern Slavery Act Transparency statement on our website www.taylorwimpey.co.uk/corporate/sustainability/ modern-slavery-act.
in 2023
Small and medium sized suppliers
We work with many small and medium sized (SME) businesses who provide labour, trades and services to our construction sites. Many of our partners are local and family-run businesses and working with them supports the local economy around our sites. We hold regular engagement and ‘Meet the Buyer’ events to help SME businesses to work with us and support them to comply with our health, safety and environment procedures.
Prompt payment
We are committed to treating suppliers fairly and paying on time. Our standard payment terms for suppliers and contractors are to pay by the end of the following month after receipt of invoice. The payment terms for contractors are 37 days. We have self-billing arrangements in place for subcontractors which automate and speed up the invoicing and payment process. This can be particularly important for small firms working with us.
