Responsibility

Vitabiotics is committed to supporting the community in a number of ways during the current national crisis. Over recent months we have focused on the following areas, where we felt in a position to have the most impact:

1. The provision of vitamin D to frontline NHS staff
2. Stepping up our charity funding for existing partners affected by the crisis
3. Providing support to every midwife in the UK

The below are just some examples of how we have endeavoured to step up our support:

1. Provision of Vitabiotics Ultra Vitamin D to NHS staff

It is critical that the NHS staff members stay healthy at this challenging time. We are proud to be supporting many frontline workers across the UK with donations of our Ultra Vitamin D 1000IU.

One example is our commitment to supply vitamin D to all NHS staff at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, King’s College Hospital and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts through 52,000 packs of Ultra® Vitamin D.

Additional Ultra Vitamin D has also been donated to The London Ambulance Service, Watford General Hospital, St. Albans City Hospital and Hemel Hempstead Hospital, The Lisham Unit and Bethlem Royal Hospital in South London, The North West Ambulance Service, Critical Care Complex nurses at Bedford Hospital NHS Trust and The Royal Orthopaedic in Birmingham.

Tej Lalvani, CEO of Vitabiotics, commented “Their work on the frontline is a credit to the nation and in providing Ultra Vitamin D to essential NHS staff we can safeguard their vitamin D intake at such a critically important time.” 

In addition to this, Vitabiotics has also supplied 18,000 packs of Wellkid Peppa Pig Vitamin D soft jellies to FareShare, the UK's national network of charitable food redistributors to help support families with young children, as well as donating packs to In Kind Direct and Solidarity Sports.

2. Stepping up COVID related support with existing Charity partners

This is a time when many of our charity partners have been experiencing both a severe decrease in funding, yet a heavily increased demand for their vital services.

For example, we’ve stepped up our support for The Bromley by Bow Centre, a pioneering charity that combines an essential neighbourhood hub with a medical practice and a community research projects. Additional substantial funding during the crisis will focus on people in the community who are most vulnerable and who have already been impacted by Covid-19, including local residents being supported through the centre’s Crisis Social Prescribing project.

We are proud to support Bliss, a Pregnacare charity partner, that supports babies born prematurely, or babies requiring medical support at birth. We have made an additional donation to enable Bliss to accelerate their new remote support service to connect parents of babies in neonatal units with trained Bliss volunteers during the crisis.

We have also been able to support and make a difference to The Fertility Network UK to support their work at this most difficult time for those who rely on their services.

3. Providing support to every midwife in the UK

Vitabiotics has provided a 3 months supply of Ultra Vitamin D to every midwife in the UK. This was sent to 40,000 individuals, including all Maternity Support Workers and Student Midwives too.

We have completed a risk assessment for COVID-19 and have shared the results with our workforce. Our COVID Secure certificates are displayed in the workplace.

Modern Slavery Policy and Statement: Vitabiotics Limited UK (“Vitabiotics”) and its subsidiaries.

Modern slavery and human trafficking is a terrible crime and a morally reprehensible act that deprives a person's liberty and dignity for another person's gain. It is a real problem for millions of people around the world, including many in developed countries, who are being kept and exploited in various forms of slavery. Every company is at risk of being involved in this crime through its own operations and its supply chain.

We at Vitabiotics believe all companies should have a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery, and we are fully committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in our business activities and throughout our supply chain and to ensuring that we trade ethically, source responsibly throughout our organisation.

This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and sets out the actions that we have taken to understand all potential modern slavery risks related to our business, and to implement steps to prevent slavery and human trafficking. It has been approved by the board of Vitabiotics and is issued on behalf of Vitabiotics and its subsidiaries.

Our Business and Structure

• Vitabiotics has manufactured innovative health care products for over 50 years; a British company committed to human health and research.
• Vitabiotics and the organisation as a whole is principally engaged in the innovation, manufacture, marketing and distribution of the multivitamin supplements, research-based nutraceutical products, cosmetic and grooming products, herbal medicines and functional drinks.
• Vitabiotics has an annual turnover which is above the threshold required to undertake the publication of a modern slavery statement.
• It is headquartered in London, England.
• Vitabiotics subsidiaries include Vitabiotics Distribution Limited and a number of subsidiary undertakings engaged in investment.

Our Supply Chains

Responsibility and Oversight

Oversight of modern slavery during this financial year is by the board of Vitabiotics who are specifically entrusted to investigate risks within our organisation and supply chain. Responsibility for the Policy rests with the board. All reports of actual or suspected breaches of our policies are to be reported to and investigated by the CEO. Staff are encouraged to raise concerns about possible issues or suspicions of modern slavery within our organisation or supply chain pursuant to our Whistleblowing Policy. All credible reports of suspected misconduct shall be investigated by the CEO.

Policies & Review

We undertake to have appropriate policies in place that underpin our commitment to ensure that there is no modern slavery or human trafficking in our supply chains or in any part of our business. We shall continuously review and update all our policies.

 As part of our on-going processes and reviews of Vitabiotics and its suppliers we are unaware of any specific risk:

• anywhere in their supply chains;
• in any part of their own business

We have not at any time been made aware of any allegations of human trafficking/slavery activities against any of our suppliers.

We undertake that if this were to occur, then we would act immediately against the supplier and officially report the matter immediately to the relevant authorities.

The Company operates the following policies in our operations relevant to modern slavery:

• Whistleblowing Policy – we encourage all employees, customers and suppliers to report any suspicion of slavery or human trafficking without fear of reprieve
• Code of Conduct – our code encourages employees to do the right thing by clearly stating the actions and behaviour expected of them when representing Vitabiotics. We strive to maintain the highest standards of employee conduct and ethical behaviour when operating abroad and managing our supply chain.

Anti-Bribery Policy: It is the policy of Vitabiotics to conduct all of its business in an honest and ethical manner. We take a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption and are committed to acting professionally, fairly and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships.

Due Diligence Processes

We have in place systems to:

• Identify and assess potential risk areas in our supply chains.
• Mitigate the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our supply chains.
• Monitor potential risk areas in our supply chains.
• Protect whistle blowers.

Our supplier selection and on-boarding procedure includes due diligence of the supplier’s reputation, respect for the law, compliance with QC standards, safety and regulatory requirements.

We undertake that our supplier questionnaires for the provision of raw materials, technical agreements and any new contract manufacturer supply agreements shall specifically include a clause to establish the supplier’s own policy and zero tolerance for human trafficking and modern slavery.

This policy document and statement will also be regularly reviewed and updated by the Board of Directors and signed by Robert Taylor, Senior Vice President on 1^st October 2024