Introduction

This statement is updated and published annually on behalf of D Young & Co LLP and its subsidiary, D Young & Co International Limited. Any reference to "D Young", "the firm", "we", "us" or "our" are to both.

We are committed to achieving the highest standards of ethical behaviour in the conduct of our business and associated activities. This statement is produced in respect of the financial year ending 31 March 2024 and sets out the steps we have taken and are taking to tackle modern slavery in our business and supply chains. Our staff are encouraged to raise any concerns of this nature in line with our whistleblowing policy.

Structure & supply chains

D Young & Co is an intellectual property law firm. We provide legal advice to our global clients in fields covering a diverse range of technologies.

Whilst we do not have intricate supply chains, we do have suppliers of goods and services. We outsource some activities to external associates and some support services to third party providers.

It is not our current practice to engage temporary workers via agencies and whilst we do work with recruitment agencies to recruit staff we would engage these staff in line with our ethical recruitment practices and terms and conditions of employment.

Policies

We have policies which are relevant to our approach to combatting modern slavery, including our core values, equality, diversity and inclusion policy, anti-bullying and anti-harassment policy and whistleblowing policy. These are available to our staff via our human resources portal as well as on request.

This Modern Slavery Statement is also included with those policies in our human resources portal.

These policies may be amended from time to time. Staff are made aware of these policies during induction, and are reminded of the importance of adhering to our policies.

Due diligence & risk assessment

We expect our suppliers, contractors and third party providers, together with their supply chains, to take all reasonable and practical steps to comply with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

We are continuing to make improvements to our procurement practices which incorporate both due diligence and risk assessment. Our procurement practices specifically question the approach our suppliers take in respect of complying with the Modern Slavery Act 2015. We previously engaged with a procurement agency to help us develop these practices and ensure that any new suppliers meet the high standards which we expect of ourselves. We have continued to review our procurement processes with both existing and new suppliers, contractors and third parties to ensure consistent practices in securing new suppliers.

We only use reputable recruitment firms and service organisations to assist us in meeting our business needs and delivering the very best client service.

Measuring effectiveness

Actions described in our Modern Slavery Statement are assigned to the appropriate staff to be implemented. Progress on any actions will be reported to and reviewed by our Management Committee.

Training & information

We continue to have a 100% completion rate of our annual training for those who have responsibility for managing procurement and engaging with third party suppliers. We are also preparing to roll out the same training to some additional members of the firm over the next year.

Board approval

This statement has been approved by the Management Committee of D Young & Co LLP on behalf of its members.

David Meldrum, Partner,
On behalf of D Young & Co LLP