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Modern Slavery Statement

AETN UK: MODERN SLAVERY STATEMENT

Dated: 05 December 2023

INTRODUCTION

A+E Networks UK, the trading name of AETN UK, recognizes its legal and moral obligation to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015,which requires companies to explain on an annual basis how they address the issues of modern slavery and human trafficking in their global supply chain.

We have zero tolerance towards slavery and human trafficking.

We are committed to improving our practices to combat modern slavery and human trafficking and this statement sets out the steps AETN UK have taken and are taking to ensure that neither are taking place in our supply chain or any part of the business as well as to eliminate as far as is possible, the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking ever taking place within our organisation in the future.

OUR STRUCTURE

AETN UK is a Media & Entertainment company. We are a joint-venture between Hearst and Sky. Hearst has its head office in New York and Sky has its head office in London.

AETN UK has over 200 employees with offices in London, Germany, Poland, Italy and South Africa.

OUR BUSINESS

AETN UK is the provider of TV channels and content. A leading media network we reach 60 million homes across 100 countries. Our portfolio of creative brands such as SkyHISTORY®, HISTORY®, Crime+Investigation®, HISTORY2® and BLAZE®, has produced high-performing, original and captivating content for audiences for over 20 years.

Since 2022, AETN UK has also been a provider of digital programming content and original shows via our direct-to-consumer app, Crime + Investigation Play. This has hugely boosted the reach of our brand and diversified our audience base further.

AETN UK is a member of the Commercial Broadcasters Association (COBA), the Television On-Demand Industry Forum and the Association of Commercial Television in Europe (ACT). The company is also an International Patron of The Royal Television Society and in 2018 topped Broadcast Magazine’s Best Places to Work list.

 

OUR SUPPLY CHAIN

We procure services from a range of third-party providers, most being largely technical and/or professional so the risk of modern slavery and human trafficking is low. Our supply chains include:

  • Broadcasting and technical suppliers including suppliers of satellite equipment, IT software, IT and other office equipment;
  • Professional services from talent, lawyers, accountants and other advisors;
  • Commissioning content from production companies, and
  • Within our offices, we use contractor companies for key services such as cleaning and security.

We rely on a number of third-party suppliers for other goods and services so we seek to ensure all our products are responsibly sourced and we are implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in our supply chains.

OUR POLICIES ON MODERN SLAVERY AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING

AETN UK’s corporate mission incorporates the vision of a diverse, purposeful, talent-led workforce that leads change and grows value. We aspire to the highest standards of ethics, honesty, and integrity in all of our activities, and to comply with all relevant legislation at all times. Our vision-led approach showcases our clear opposition to modern slavery and human trafficking.

We use our Channels to promote campaigns to end abuse, for example, the Crime+Investigation channel supported the campaign to End Abuse Against Women across the UK, Poland, Germany, Italy and Spain. In the UK, the initiative was rolled out in partnership with the Refuge charity, the UK’s biggest provider of support to survivors and victims of violence.

Our work demonstrates our commitment to operating with compassion and awareness and no modern slavery issues have been raised across our business to date.

ACTIONS:

  1. To ensure that we continue to operate in a manner that minimizes the risk of modern slavery and human rights violations across all levels of our business, we will continue to review our Anti-Slavery Policy which will reflect our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere in our supply chains.
  2. We will review our Human Resources Policies to ensure we have in place the necessary protections to protect whistle-blowers.
  3. We continue to review and improve our due diligence procedures to identify and mitigate any potential issues with respect to any risks that we identify.
  4. We have updated our new vendor registration forms to ensure compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 by our vendors is a condition of engagement. All vendors must now confirm they are complying with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, have read AETN UK’s Modern Slavery Statement and will support, on an ongoing basis, our zero-tolerance policy towards slavery and human trafficking.
  5. We have reviewed our Modern Slavery training with providers across our territories to ensure that training modules are up to date, and we are monitoring completion of training by all staff. We have also stepped up our internal communications with employees to ensure they understand what modern slavery is and why completion of training is so important.

DUE DILIGENCE PROCESSES/AREAS OF RISK AND MANAGEMENT

To ensure that all of our business partners adopt the same high values as we do, we undertook a thorough analysis of all third party suppliers from whom we have acquired services. This initiative has allowed us to identify and assess potential risk areas within our supply chains and businesses.

SUPPLIER ADHERENCE TO OUR VALUES AND ETHICS

We do not accept modern slavery and human trafficking and we have in place processes when working with suppliers to mitigate the risks by:

  1. Conducting a risk assessment of a new supplier and its supply chains before agreeing to any engagement with that supplier, including considering its location, our spend and the product group and any risks raised of modern slavery or human trafficking;
  2. Monitoring supply chains and where appropriate audit suppliers once they have been engaged;
  3. Requiring all manufacturing suppliers to agree to our terms of conduct within their supply agreements, which include a requirement to comply with the Modern Slavery Act; and
  4. Protecting whistleblowers;

ACTION:

We set up a process to ensure when appointing suppliers and contractors we assess the risk of compliance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and only engage with those who will uphold our desire to respect and protect human rights with regards to modern day slavery. This will lessen the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in any of our supply chains moving forwards and means we can monitor, engage with and protect the interests of any suppliers which fall into higher risk categories.

TRAINING

To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking within our business, when we publish the Anti-Slavery Policy we will provide training to all staff which will be mandatory and will further embed this key policy within our company culture.

We will also request new business partners to provide training to their staff and suppliers.

 

OUR EFFECTIVENESS IN COMBATING MODERN SLAVERY AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING

We will be measured against our ability to ensure all ACTIONS stated above take place with new/updated policies, processes and training modules are rolled out across our business over the next 12 months.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement for the financial year ending December 2022. It is the third such statement from AETN UK, having previously been included as a Sky Limited subsidiary within all previous Sky UK Limited Modern Slavery Statements and Updates. It was approved by the Board directors on 05 December 2023.

Signed on behalf of the board of directors

Dean Possenniskie

Managing Director