The group said its hotline will enable employees to raise concerns confidentially, “without fear of repercussion” about colleagues or suppliers. The hotline will be promoted during inductions, on wage slips, in worker handbooks and on noticeboards around its sites across the country.

Trained telephone operators will categorise each call on severity, alerting the appropriate level of management, or Cordant’s HR, legal or compliance teams, to investigate or respond to the concerns raised. Cordant’s compliance team will monitor all responses and report back to the group’s senior leaders weekly.

Additionally, following the lead of PMP Recruitment, other Cordant brands have committed to becoming Stronger Together business partners. The campaign requires organisations to upload evidence to publicly demonstrate their commitment to tackling hidden labour exploitation.  

Yesterday the BBC reported on a warning from the National Crime Agency claiming modern slavery and human trafficking in the UK is "far more prevalent than previously thought," with the NCA estimating there were tens of thousands of victims of modern slavery with cases affecting "every large town and city in the country". The agency added that it has more than 300 live policing operations.