Modern Slavery Statement 2026
References to we, us and Walker Morris in this statement relate to Walker Morris LLP on behalf of itself and its subsidiaries.
This modern slavery statement is made on behalf of Walker Morris and published in accordance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the Act). This statement sets out the steps we have taken to identify and mitigate the risk of modern slavery in our business and throughout our supply chains.
Our business
We conduct all of our business in an honest and ethical manner and have a zero-tolerance approach towards any form of slavery, forced labour or human trafficking (collectively referred to as ‘modern slavery’ in this statement). We are a full-service commercial law firm, with a single site in Leeds providing high-quality advice to clients in the UK and overseas. Further information about Walker Morris can be found on our website.
Our clients, many of whom are blue chip companies, are drawn from a broad range of sectors, including manufacturing, real estate and infrastructure, financial services, retail, food and drink, technology and media, energy, construction and sport.
Our approach
We consider the risk of modern slavery in our operations to be low, while recognising that risks may arise within our supply chains.
We apply high standards in the recruitment and employment of our people and conduct due diligence on prospective staff before they join.
All our staff are required to comply with relevant laws and professional codes of conduct, as well as our internal policies and procedures which include our internal:
- Anti-Slavery Policy
- Anti-Corruption and Bribery Policy
- Colleague Dignity and Respect Policy
- Corporate Responsibility Policy
- Equality and Diversity Policy
- Whistleblowing Policy
- Safeguarding Statement
We provide training to our staff on the key elements of these policies, as appropriate. This includes online training on modern slavery to staff in departments or roles that are key to addressing modern slavery risk.
We are an Accredited Living Wage Employer, meaning that we have committed to paying all our employees a fair living wage.
Our supply chain
We expect all of our contractors and suppliers to meet the same high ethical standards that we apply to our own business.
The majority of our suppliers are UK businesses although some are multi-nationals. Our supply chain primarily involves the purchase of services and goods to support the delivery of our services such as IT equipment, software, cloud services, facilities maintenance, general office equipment and consumables. We assess our suppliers for evidence of compliance with modern slavery legislation during onboarding and review existing suppliers as part of our ongoing due diligence.
Risk assessment and due diligence
We carried out a detailed risk assessment of new tier 1 suppliers in our supply chain onboarded during the financial year ending 30 April 2026. This involved scoring suppliers against criteria including known ethical breaches, criminal convictions, sectoral risk, geographical risk based on the 2023 Global Slavery Index. We also took into account matters such as our spend with the supplier and the length of our relationship with them. We used these assessments to categorise our suppliers as presenting a high, medium or low risk of modern slavery within their business.
Of these suppliers, 55% were categorised as low risk and, due to their sector risk score, 45% were categorised as medium risk. We carried out due diligence on all new tier 1 suppliers, including adverse media and open-source searches, to better understand the risk posed. No modern slavery concerns were identified though the due diligence undertaken.
We re-risk assess existing suppliers on a rolling 5-year basis as part of our ongoing supplier due diligence.
We review the findings of our supplier risk assessments and due diligence to inform our approach and keep our monitoring arrangements under review.
Approval
This slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 30 April 2026 was approved by the management board and signed by Jeanette Burgess, Managing Partner and Designated Member on behalf of the members of Walker Morris LLP in accordance with section 54 of the Act.
Jeanette Burgess, Managing Partner
October 2026
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Previous Modern Slavery Statements
