Major retailer Marks & Spencer topped the list ranking Britain’s biggest firms on their efforts to tackle modern slavery. Supermarket Tesco and British American Tobacco were ranked second and third respectively on the first Global Governance FTSE 100 League Table.
The table came to the conclusion based on the firms’ compliance with Britain’s landmark anti-slavery law and overall human rights practices.
Under Britain’s 2015 Modern Slavery Act, companies with a turnover of more than 36 million pounds ($47.5 million) must produce an annual statement outlining the actions they have taken to identify and stop forced labour in their supply chains. There has been a growing pressure on big brands from regulators and consumers alike to ensure that their operations and products are not tainted by modern slavery.
The FTSE 100 companies have a combined market capitalisation of 1.9 trillion pounds and employ 6.8 million people, according to communications business Sustain Worldwide, which facilitated the ranking.
The average combined score of the 100 companies – 47 percent – shows that they are generally failing to take meaningful anti-slavery action in the private sector, according to Caroline Robinson of Focus on Labour Exploitation.
