Everyone is not an appropriate partner, which is why we have specified explicit rules for our partnerships.
The principles of co-operation with suppliers
Our products are mainly manufactured in Europe (27%) and Turkey (66%). As a member of amfori BSCI, we comply with the BSCI Code of Conduct and require this also of our partners.
• Right of freedom of association and collective bargaining
• No discrimination
• Fair remuneration
• Decent working hours
• Occupational health and safety
• No child labour
• Special protection for young workers
• No precarious employment
• No bonded labour
• Protection of the environment
• Ethical business behaviour
Some of Finlayson’s manufacturing partners are located in so-called high-risk countries in which legislation, politics or infrastructure may restrict or complicate business. Being located in a high-risk country does not automatically make them high-risk partners; we evaluate each partner individually. In 2018, altogether 99.8 per cent of our purchases from high-risk countries came from audited suppliers.
The names of all of our partners can be found here, and the diagram below shows how the manufacture of our products was divided between countries in 2018.
Audits (factory inspections)
The purpose of factory inspections is to ensure that our partners comply with the amfori BSCI Code of Conduct. Finlayson uses amfori BSCI as the third-party auditor of manufacturing partners. We also accept the SA 8000 certificate and Sedex SMETA audit.
In factory inspections, auditors authorised by BSCI visit the suppliers and report the results of the audits on a scale from A to E. Depending on the result of the audit, the supplier compiles a plan and implements the improvement measures for the next follow-up audit. If the factory passes the audit (score A or B), the audit remains valid for two years. Suppliers are regularly audited every one or two years.
The purpose of the audit system is not to ‘punish’ suppliers but together develop and improve the working conditions.