Our Commitment
Knight Frank is fundamentally committed to ensuring that there is no slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business. As a professional services supplier we work to provide our clients with the highest levels of service attainable. We hold ourselves to the utmost standards of professional conduct and accept nothing less from our suppliers.
Our Organisation Structure and Supply Chains
Knight Frank is a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) registered in England (registered number OC305934).
Knight Frank provides real estate services in the UK. Internationally, real estate services are provided by a network of separate and independent entities or practices, offering commercial and residential property services. These firms, together with Knight Frank, are known as 'the Knight Frank Global Network'.
Each entity or practice in the Knight Frank Global Network is a separate legal entity. Its ownership and management is distinct from that of any other entity or practice whether operating under the name Knight Frank or otherwise.
The Act requires that businesses with a turnover of over £36 million disclose information regarding their policies to eradicate modern slavery and human trafficking from their provision of services. Knight Frank has a reporting obligation under the Act and this statement applies to Knight Frank only.
In the United Kingdom, Knight Frank has over 2,500 direct employees. Knight Frank offers a broad range of property services across a number of asset classes, including property and facilities management, building consultancy services, valuations and lettings, sales and acquisitions services.
Knight Frank considers a supplier to be any contractor, consultant, supplier or other entity or individuals providing goods and/or services to Knight Frank, directly or indirectly.
Knight Frank operates a risk-based approach in relation to our supply chains. Our property and facilities management divisions are most likely to present a risk in relation to modern slavery, as Knight Frank procures services on behalf of clients, such as maintenance, security, concierge and utilities. Knight Frank also engages with suppliers to directly procure, for example, technology, marketing, HR and professional services and proactively works with these suppliers in order to ensure that persons working within these organisations are protected from modern slavery practices.
Our approach to combating slavery and human trafficking
As a property services firm, we recognise that there is a risk (albeit very small) of slavery or human trafficking occurring in our supply chain. Knight Frank will only work with suppliers who share our commitments. Regardless of the potential risk, Knight Frank takes the matter of modern slavery very seriously and has implemented a number of policies which are designed to ensure the firm’s compliance with its modern slavery obligations.
Our Purpose
Property is a part of everyday life and so much of what Knight Frank does with its clients directly impacts the surroundings in which we live and work. Knight Frank’s Purpose guides the way in which we work together, at our best – as individuals and as a business. Our Purpose is:
‘To work responsibly, in partnership, to enhance people’s lives and environment.’
We understand that we have a duty to make responsible and sustainable decisions, to collaborate effectively, to have a positive and meaningful impact on people’s lives and on the environment in which we live.
Our Policies
Knight Frank understands the importance of robust policies, not just for meeting our legal obligations, but also in maintaining the reputation Knight Frank has built over its 125 year history with its customers, employees and key stakeholders. These policies are regularly reviewed and are approved by the Knight Frank Insurance and Risk Committee.
The relevant Knight Frank policies are as follows:
- Tendering and Responsible Procurement Policy – this includes our policy against modern slavery in the workplace and our supply chain;
- Social Ethical and Environmental Procurement Guidelines;
- Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining Statement;
- Knight Frank Global Whistleblowing Policy; and
- Knight Frank Global Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy
In addition, we require all of our employees to complete compliance and risk training annually, which includes sections on modern slavery.
Our Due Diligence Processes
To ensure all those in our supply chain comply with our policies, we carry out a clear onboarding process to ensure our suppliers match the standards we expect of them. During our tendering process, we expect suppliers to demonstrate their commitment to the prevention of modern slavery. Modern slavery is an agenda point in any meeting between Knight Frank’s procurement team and any of its suppliers.
When entering into new supplier contracts, we encourage all parties to contract on Knight Frank standard terms, which include obligations to comply with the Act and to comply with our policies in relation to the prevention of modern slavery. Where contracting on our supplier’s terms of business, Knight Frank ensures that similar obligations are included, requiring compliance with the Act.
In order to ensure that our supply chain remains free of modern slavery or human trafficking, Knight Frank regularly updates the procedures and policies of our procurement team to ensure we are meeting all the requirements under the Act. These requirements are built into every part of our supply chains, from supplier on-boarding, including all tendering processes, through to final appointment.
Our Risk Assessment and Management
Knight Frank’s property and asset management teams are at the greatest risk of exposure to modern slavery, given that they are the section of the Knight Frank business with the most extensive supply chains.
These teams (who provide both property and facilities management) engage with a number of suppliers for the provision of services such as security, cleaning, maintenance or concierge. This includes suppliers engaged through our subsidiaries. These services often utilise low-paid labourers and are at the greatest risk of exploitative labour practices. These teams look to minimise the risk of modern slavery in their supply chains by only working with companies on a Preferred Suppliers list. Among other requirements, companies are only included on this list where Knight Frank is confident they are equally committed to the prevention of modern slavery as Knight Frank is.
Other sections of the Knight Frank business do not work as regularly with suppliers and, more often than not, are working with suppliers of technology or cloud-based services, which are at lower risk of exposure to modern slavery. Nevertheless, the business divisions undertake the risk assessment and management steps outlined elsewhere in this statement. As an example, our HR team has recruitment guides to cover areas such as fair pay, equality and inclusivity, and the right to work when going through the recruitment process.
Identifying and mitigating risks of modern slavery and human trafficking – 2022 highlights
In 2022 Knight Frank successfully implanted a procurement onboarding software across its procurement team. This software will serve as a central digital register of all suppliers working with Knight Frank, providing detailed supplier onboarding questionnaires, due diligence documentation and contractual details. Particularly in relation to modern slavery, it will record how many of Knight Frank’s suppliers have signed Knight Frank template terms (including obligations to comply with the Modern Slavery Act and associated Knight Frank policies), the number of suppliers who have provided their own modern slavery policies to Knight Frank and details of any and all checks the suppliers undertake. In addition, the new software will allow Knight Frank to easily track and report on supplier non-compliance.
Suppliers will be required to annually update this information and declare that there have been no incidents of modern slavery in their business. Companies who do not comply will be removed from the Knight Frank “Preferred Suppliers” list.
As the software becomes embedded across the Knight Frank procurement function, Knight Frank will look to establish KPIs in order to better identify the effectiveness of our current anti-modern slavery policies.
Our approach going forwards
Over the last 12 months, Knight Frank has found that its approach to identifying and managing the risk of modern slavery in its supply chains has been effective, both in the commitment of its staff and in the way it contracts with third parties.
Knight Frank remains committed to the elimination of modern slavery in its supply chains and will continue to review our policies, as well as any updates or guidance from the government. Knight Frank is, however, aware that it must always be proactive in ensuring it does not fall behind in this regard. As such, over the next 12 months, Knight Frank is aiming to:
- Institute mandatory training in relation to modern slavery, both for new starters and as part of mandatory annual refresher training.
- Create a sustainable procurement and supply chain webpage and introduce whistleblowing procedure for our suppliers to access.
- Use our new procurement software to introduce auditing of our supplier to ensure compliance with our Tendering and Responsible Procurement Policy.
Knight Frank remains committed to conducting its business with integrity, and it looks forward to all further developments in this area.
This statement is made in relation to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 for the financial year 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023.
Matt Tweedie
Group Financial Director and Head of Business Services