Ethical sourcing: Investor engagement in the construction sector

In the last year there has been an increase in the number of reported cases on modern slavery in the construction sector. Developers, contractors and suppliers will no doubt have policies in place against modern slavery, but investors are taking the obligations around ethical sourcing a step further. A group of investors will now be targeting the construction sector in the third quarter of this year to have more direct engagement with companies to properly examine the supply chain.  The industry standard forms of contract do not expressly address the legal obligations around supply chain transparency. It is an issue my colleague, Oliver Johnson, will be considering at the BiiD Quick-fire Session on Ethical Sourcing on 13 May.