Associated British Ports, Modern Slavery Due Diligence in Port Supply Chains
Associated British Ports (ABP) is the largest port operator in the United Kingdom, with 21 ports across England, Wales and Scotland (ABP, 2026). The UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires large organizations to publish an annual statement on the steps they take to address slavery and human trafficking. ABP publishes this statement each year. Its statement for 2025 is approved by the ABP Board and signed by the Chief Executive Officer (ABP, 2026).
Approach
Policies and reporting channels. ABP has an Anti-Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy. It also has a Whistleblowing Policy that lets employees or any other person raise concerns anonymously. ABP states that all reports are investigated (ABP, 2026).
Risk mapping by spend category. ABP names the parts of its supply chain with higher modern slavery risk. These are construction, personal protective equipment (PPE), port equipment, facilities services and stevedoring services. For PPE and port equipment, the risk is that parts may be made in higher-risk countries (ABP, 2026).
Focus on contingent port labor. ABP buys significant stevedoring and other quayside services. Some are supplied through agencies or other providers of contingent labor. ABP notes that this gives it less visibility of the workforce and the terms of employment used. It identifies the same issue for facilities services (ABP, 2026).
Supplier controls. ABP manages supplier registration, sourcing and selection through an online Supplier Portal. Its standard contracts include specific modern slavery provisions. Each year ABP writes to a selection of suppliers and asks them to declare any non-compliance, including on modern slavery. For PPE, ABP increasingly selects suppliers certified to SA8000 (ABP, 2026).
Training at the port front line. ABP gives employees training on modern slavery and human trafficking. It also delivers tool box talks to front line employees that set out red flags to look for at the ports (ABP, 2026).
Results
ABP has published a modern slavery statement for every financial year from 2016 to 2025 (ABP, n.d.). The 2025 statement does not report quantified indicators, audit results or cases. It commits ABP to continue building awareness through training, internal communications and visual reminders (ABP, 2026).
Transferability
DMC ports that rely on agency stevedores, contractors and imported equipment face similar risks. They can map risk by spend category and give extra attention to contingent labor at the quayside. They can use supplier registration, standard contract clauses and a yearly supplier declaration as low-cost controls. Front line briefings on red flags and an anonymous reporting channel open to non-employees are practical first steps. The lack of indicators in ABP's statement shows that ports should also set measures to track whether these actions work.
Sources
All information used for this case study was based on publicly available resources.