Modern Slavery Statement 2018

1
Information Classification: General

Informa PLC | Informa Modern Slavery Statement 2018

informa.com

Modern Slavery Statement 2018
This statement is our third response to the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, setting out the steps theGroup has taken during the financial year ending 31 December 2018 to remove slavery and humantrafficking from our business and supply chain.
The statement is made on behalf of Informa Plc and all applicable subsidiaries, including I.I.R.
Limited, Informa UK Limited, Informa Finance USA Limited, Informa Markets UK Limited, andInforma Telecoms & Media Limited, where the activities form part of the supply chain or business ofInforma as a parent company. Please see our Annual Report for a full list of all Informa Plc’s
subsidiaries.
For questions or further information, contact Informa Plc.

Our Commitment
As a leading international events, intelligence and scholarly publishing Group, the integrity andstrength of the business relationships we develop are, I believe, fundamental to Informa’s
sustainable success. Modern slavery is the absolute opposite to this form of partnership: it shouldhave no part in any international business or its supply chains.
Through our modern slavery programme, and the broader programmes of work we undertake as a
responsible business, Informa is committed to ensuring that, as far as possible, we operate ourbusiness and supply chains free from modern slavery in any of its forms.
This Modern Slavery Statement was approved by the Board of Directors at its Board meeting on 24
May 2019.

Stephen A. Carter CBEGroup CEO12 June 20192
Information Classification: General

Informa PLC | Informa Modern Slavery Statement 2018

informa.com

About Informa
Informa is a leading international events, intelligence and scholarly publishing Group. Through our
network of internationally respected brands, we connect specialists all over the world, helping
people to work smarter, make better informed decisions and expand and grow in thousands ofspecialist markets.
The Group is organised into five Operating Divisions: Informa Markets, Informa Connect, Informa
Tech, Informa Intelligence and Taylor & Francis, with a sixth non-Operating Division, Global Support,
providing services that support the Operating Divisions.
In 2018, Informa was structured as four principal Divisions: Global Exhibitions, Academic Publishing,
Business Intelligence and Knowledge & Networking. The UBM business, which was acquired in June2018 to create an enlarged Group, was reported as an additional Operating Division for theremainder of that period.
Informa is listed on London Stock Exchange and a member of FTSE 100, with over 11,000 colleagues
working in more than 30 countries. The Group generated annual revenues of over £2.3bn in 2018and has been a member of the FTSE100 since 2016.

Modern Slavery Programme
Delivery and Governance
Informa’s modern slavery programme is delivered by Group functions, including Compliance, Risk,
Legal, Sustainability, Health, Safety & Security and HR, and executed by operational teams in each of
the Divisions. The Head of Group Compliance and the Group General Counsel have oversight of thedesign of the programme at the Executive Management Team level; Divisional Leadership has
oversight of the programme’s delivery.
The programme sits within our broader Human Rights programme, which is guided by theInternational Bill of Human Rights and the International Labour Organisation’s Declaration on
Fundamental Principles and Rights to Work, and the work we do to support and promoteresponsible business. We operate in compliance with local laws, are committed to respecting
internationally recognised human rights standards, and follow the United Nations Guiding Principles
on Business and Human Rights.

Sustainable Development Goals
Informa has developed several projects designed to enhance our direct and indirect contributions
to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Modern slavery and forced labour are specifically referenced in two of the SDGS: 5.2 and 8.7.

3
Information Classification: General

Informa PLC | Informa Modern Slavery Statement 2018

informa.com

Supply Chain
Informa’s business partners are key to how we work; we aim to develop long-standing and mutually
supportive relationships with suppliers, contractors, agents and other partners who operate in an
ethical, lawful and socially responsible way, and share our belief in the value of responsible business.
The Group works with over 44,000 suppliers, ranging from authors and speakers at our events, tomultinational service and technology providers. Approximately 65% of our supply chain spend is on
contracts over £250,000.
Our suppliers are categorised as follows:

Venue construction
and décor

SME and partnercosts

Marketing, promotion
and advertising

Print and print
management

Property and office
related costs

Professional
services

Travel andaccommodation

IT

Staffing, inc. contingent
and contractors

Procurement and supplier management is led by a central Procurement team, under a Group Headof Procurement and is delivered by centres of excellence within the Operating Divisions.

Codes and Policies
Informa’s codes of conduct and policies express our commitment on Modern Slavery and containdetails of how to access our whistleblowing services.
At the heart of our Group Compliance programme is our Code of Conduct and the associatedBusiness Partner Code of Conduct, which, together, set out how we expect our colleagues andexternal business partners to act, and our position on modern slavery, child labour and otherrelated labour rights abuses. The Code of Conduct has been approved by senior management andexplicitly endorsed by the Group CEO.
Compliance with the Code of Conduct is mandatory for all colleagues and the document is available
in multiple languages, both internally and publicly on our corporate site.
The Business Partner Code of Conduct is included in new contracts and framework agreements, and4
Information Classification: General

Informa PLC | Informa Modern Slavery Statement 2018

informa.com

a pilot by Informa Markets in 2019 will see all vendors participating in a tender process agreeing tocomply with it.
Our new Group-wide Human Rights Policy has been developed with the support of an external
expert on human rights and sustainable procurement following a Human Rights Risk Assessment.
The Policy will be published in 2019, alongside revised Code of Conduct and Business Partner Codeof Conduct, each of which will reflect the enlarged business and our commitment to our antimodern slavery programme.

Indices
Informa participates in several benchmarks and indices, including DJSI, FTSE4Good, Ethibel, WDI and
CEI, which include consideration and disclosure of our work to eliminate modern slavery and humanrights abuses within our business and supply chains.

Risk Assessment and Due Diligence
Risk Management at Informa
Informa aims to ensure that significant risks are identified and understood, managed appropriately,
and monitored and reported to the Group’s governance bodies. When risks are assessed, we
consider the potential financial and non-financial impacts and the likelihood of their occurrence.
Details of our risk management process and governance framework are provided in the Annual
Report.
To assess the risk of exposure to modern slavery in Informa’s internal operations and external
supply chain, the following key risk indicators are considered:
Nature of the business operations
Industry sector, including the type of product or service provided and nature of workforce
Geography, including location of operations, offices, venues, supply chain partners
Level and type of engagement with the vendor (larger or longer-term engagements provide us withgreater opportunity to influence, monitor and support)• Local / national regulatory or legal compliance••••

A Group-level Human Rights Risk Assessment in 2018 included a review of our modern slavery risk
exposure in the context of broader labour rights risk. It identified, and confirmed, key areas ofpotential risk which will assist the development of areas of focus for the Modern Slavery programmein 2019.
The process included the development of specific risk assessment criteria for human rights-relatedrisks, which are aligned to our standard assessment framework but consider risks from theperspective of the rights holders, as per the UNGPs, and include considerations of elements such as
possibility of remedy. It considered all elements of the value chain and core Group processes,
considering potential impacts on customers, colleagues, and participants in our extended supply
chain.

5
Information Classification: General

Informa PLC | Informa Modern Slavery Statement 2018

informa.com

Operational Risk
Modern Slavery risk is also considered as part of broader operating risk assessments, includingCountry Risk Assessments. These are used to identify various operational, security and reputationalrisks for existing and prospective markets, where it is considered alongside broader human rights
threats and issues. Sources of data include the Global Slavery Index and the Freedom in the World
Report.
Informa’s Human Rights Risk Assessment also included operating territory analysis, including
country mapping, to identify the relative freedom of the territories in which Informa’s colleagues,
contractors, contributors and customers work and live.
We also referenced the 2018 Global Slavery Index todetermine Informa’s relative exposure in ouroperating territories, to provide context not only forour own operations, but local supply chains in theselocations.
According to the Index, 80% of colleagues arelocated in jurisdictions assessed as having the lowest
prevalence of modern slavery, including the UK, US,
Netherlands, and Hong Kong; 2% of colleagues are
based in locations identified as being in areas withhigher prevalence, including Malaysia and Thailand.

Due Diligence
Due Diligence processes vary within Divisions and teams and the nature of the supply chains they
manage. The approach is risk-based, with more detailed due diligence carried out on tier one orbusiness-critical suppliers and those identified as higher risk, according to the relevant key risk
indicators.
Due diligence on business partners may include legal due diligence, adverse media checks,
customer references, completion of internal vendor management assessments (including requests
for policies, codes of conduct and similar evidence of commitment), as well as regular site visits andface to face engagement.
Detailed due diligence is also carried out before engaging in joint ventures or acquisitions.

Areas of focus
The following page highlights areas of Informa’s value chain that have been identified as having
exposure to the risk of labour rights abuses. The predominance of each sector of the suppliercategories varies across Divisions, according to product offering.

6
Information Classification: General

Informa PLC | Informa Modern Slavery Statement 2018

informa.com

SectorForestry
Construction
Hospitality & venues
Manufacturing

MiningService sector

Informa value chain dependency
Paper, card and wood used in printing of publications, office supplies andstand construction for events
Construction and take down of exhibition stands; venue development;
building
Use of expo centres, hotels, trade centres and other venues to host event
Manufacturing of small marketing materials (e.g. badges, lanyards).
Printing and related production including impacts associated with binding,inks
Mineral, metal and construction material mining used in direct andindirect supply chain, predominantly for stand construction, offices andtechnology
Contracting and sub-contracting of facilities management services,
including catering and cleaning

Some of the suppliers we work with are located in areas assessed as having a higher prevalence ofmodern slavery, including the Philippines, India and Malaysia.

Risk Mitigation Activity
Informa continues to put measures in place to mitigate and manage any risks represented by ourbusiness and business partners, according to the risk profile of the engagement. These include:• The use of specific anti-modern slavery and anti-child labour clauses in contracts, exhibitor manuals
and framework agreements• Audits, including specific modern slavery checks as part of operational audits conducted by the GroupInternal Audit team, plus the tracking to completion of any identified corrective actions• Communication and training• Site and venue visits, including monitoring for presence of children on site during event construction
and take down; monitoring for use of forced labour• Restrictions on the use of sub-contractors• Internal processes, such as the payment of a Living Wage (Informa has been accredited as a Living
Wage employer since 2017)

Print Production: The Book Chain Project
Informa is one of 27 major book and journals publishing companies to be signatories to The Book
Chain Project, a collaborative project designed to support improved supply chains in the publishingindustry, with a focus on ethical and sustainable standards. Informa is primarily engaged in thelabour and environmental aspects of the project. We have maintained our supplier levels ofparticipation in 2018.
All suppliers who are registered on the Book Chain Project’s database have agreed to comply with
their Code of Conduct, which articulates standards of labour practice and environmental
performance based on internationally-recognised standards and codes, including the ILO
Conventions and the UN Declaration for Human Rights. The Code contains specific reference toforced labour and human trafficking and recruitment practices, including a prohibition on the

7
Information Classification: General

Informa PLC | Informa Modern Slavery Statement 2018

informa.com

payment of fees for recruitment, and to child labour, which includes details of remediation
requirements if child labour is found. These sections specifically reference as ILO Conventions 29
and 105, 138 and 182, and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 32.
The Book Chain Project’s Labour & Environment Risk Assessment tool assists publishers to identify
countries at highest risk of poor labour and environmental practices; print suppliers deemed to behigher risk who wish to appear on the Project’s database are required to provide an audit from athird party such as ICTI, SMETA, SA 8000 or WCA. Suppliers that do not already have an ethical audit
can ask for a SMETA audit against the Book Chain Code of Conduct.

Paper and Timber
The global forestry industry is identified as having a significant risk of violations to human rights,
including the use of forced, indentured and child labour, especially where timber is sourced illegallyor unsustainably. Our Group-wide Human Rights Risk Assessment in 2018 confirmed this risk.
Informa’s Paper Sourcing Policy is owned by the Group Sustainability team and aims to address therisk represented by this element of our supply chain. It focuses on three key impact areas, split by
the degree of control we have over them
• Paper and timber used in our offices and business• Paper we specify for our printed products, books and marketing materials and signage• Timber and paper we specify for use in our major events.
The policy target is to source 100% of paper from certified forest sources: our expressed preference
is for FSC certified products, which have as a cornerstone of their scheme the social impacts offorestry. The FSC expressly states that it does not associate with organisations which violate any of
the ILO Core Conventions, including those related to forced labour. The FSC’s structures andprocesses, including complaints mechanisms, engagement with labour unions and social NGOs andextensive due diligence processes, help to provide further protections and facilitate theidentification and reporting of infringements of human rights in the forestry industry.
In 2018, across the enlarged Group, 94% of paper was certified as sustainably sourced, and afurther 3% was rated ‘responsibly’ sourced, although not certified. Responsible sourcing meets thecriteria set out in our Paper and Timber Policy, where other certifications are not available, or not
yet available.

2018: 10,240 tonnes
94% of paper certified as sustainably sourced;
97% responsibly sourced

Events and exhibitions
Informa recognises that any construction-related activity at our events and exhibitions may
introduce the risk of modern slavery, including the use of forced labour and, in certain jurisdictions,8
Information Classification: General

Informa PLC | Informa Modern Slavery Statement 2018

informa.com

child labour. We manage and mitigate this risk in various ways, including expressly forbidding theuse of forced or child labour in exhibitor manuals and contracts, onsite checks by operational andsecurity teams and ad-hoc monitoring by teams including Health & Safety and Internal Audit.
Venues are also clearly signed that children are not permitted onsite during build or breakdown,
and on- site colleagues will challenge any worker appearing to be under age.
During operational event reviews, the Internal Audit team assesses on site provisions to monitor
and manage this risk, including reviews of documentation and security, and observations carried out
during floor walks. Any issues or further clarification is detailed in corrective action plans andtracked to completion.
ISEMS
The Group Sustainability team is developing a new ISEMS process (Informa Sustainable EventManagement Standard) to be rolled out to the enlarged Group in 2019. This framework will include
modern slavery related requirements, including participation in modern slavery e-learning for
operational teams and the use of the business partner code of conduct.
The ISEMS also aims to formalise and track the existing practice of many events, which is to engage
in a partnership with a not-for-profit or charity related to the purpose or industry focus of the event.
Certain events already support charities that seek to address modern slavery concerns relevant totheir industry, such as GoodWeave, a welfare standard for the rug industry, which is supported by
Decorex, Informa’s interior design event.

Training & Communication
Training
All colleagues and directly-engaged contractors are required to complete training on the Code of
Conduct when they join the company; the training references the content of the Code of Conduct
and includes specific sections on modern slavery, forced and child labour.
A revised Code of Conduct and new training will be rolled out to all colleagues in 2019 and this will
include information on modern slavery and related human rights issues.

Enhanced training
Informa provides more detailed e-learning, including guidance on how to identify signs of modern
slavery in a supply chain, to specific colleagues whose roles or responsibilities might provide an
opportunity to mitigate the risk of modern slavery. This training was extended to additional
colleagues in 2018 and has now been delivered to approximately 1,000 colleagues across 19
countries, including senior managers, events operations teams, facilities managers, health andsafety colleagues, HR and procurement team members.
Face to face training and engagement on modern slavery has also been provided to colleagues inlocations including the US and India and, as part of the Human Rights Risk Assessment, to senior
management team members across the Group’s key functions and Divisions. We continue tomonitor the training needs of our colleagues.

9
Information Classification: General

Informa PLC | Informa Modern Slavery Statement 2018

informa.com

Colleague Voice
From the perspective of the modern slavery programme, Informa recognises the importance ofenabling anyone who finds themselves either a victim or at risk, to communicate safely. It is
important that colleagues and third parties who work with us feel they can speak freely, engage withmanagement at all levels, ask questions and raise concerns, whether this is about modern slavery,
forced labour, child labour or any other matter.

Reporting a concern
All colleagues, business partners and their workforces can use our whistleblowing and breachmanagement structures to report concerns.
Freephone whistleblowing lines, hosted by third parties, let all colleagues, customers, business
partners and their workforces raise concerns securely and confidentially. These can be madeanonymously, where legal, in multiple languages, and Informa has a strict zero-tolerance policy
about retaliation against anyone making a report in good faith.
Details of the service are provided in the Group’s policies and codes and on posters. The Business
Partner Code places a requirement on our business partners to communicate details of the service
to their teams.
Breaches of all aspects of the Code of Conduct and associated Group Policies are reported to the
Risk Committee and Board on a regular basis, and volumes of breaches and resolution times aretracked.
In 2018, there were no reported concerns about modern slavery or other human rights related
issues via the whistleblowing service. One report was made by an event team to a Divisional
Compliance team in December 2018, reporting that a former exhibitor was the subject of an article
in the UK press concerning its alleged use of forced labour. The organisation denies the accusations
and the issue is currently under formal investigation by the local authorities; the teams concerned
continue to monitor.

Enforcement and Response
All colleagues are required to comply with the Code of Conduct and any breaches may result in
disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. To date, no breaches of the Code of Conduct have
involved modern slavery and there were no related reports or concerns raised during 2018.
The Business Partner Code of Conduct includes provisions for audit: where adherence to Informa’s
stated principles are contractually enforceable, we reserve the right to terminate our relationshipwith a business partner if issues of non-compliance with our policies are discovered and noncompliance is severe or repeated.
We recognise that it is not always in the best interests of those being abused that contracts withorganisations engaged in modern slavery are simply terminated, and that it can be moreconstructive to work with such organisations to address and resolve the issues, where this ispossible.

10
Information Classification: General

Informa PLC | Informa Modern Slavery Statement 2018

informa.com