Gender pay gap report
S172 (1) STATEMENT
EXTRACT FROM THE STRATEGIC REPORT FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 30 MARCH 2025 (FROM PAGES 5-6):
The Board of Directors, in line with their duties under s172 of the Companies Act 2006, consider, both individually and together, that they have acted in a way that supports and promotes the success of the Group, for the benefit of stakeholders as a whole. Any key decisions and matters of strategic importance are informed and influenced by factors set out in s172.
Customers
END. was established to create exciting and memorable retail experiences for our customers and provides an inclusive shopping experience through our omni-channel offering. END. serves a global audience and continually looks to develop and improve its customer proposition. The Group has a strong social media following and receives positive engagement and feedback from its community.
The Directors led initiatives to improve the customer experience and offering during the period through: investment in warehouse operations to improve the fulfilment rates and speed of delivery; investment in the infrastructure to support strong performance during peak trade; investment in AI to support fast responses to basic customer queries.
Employees
The Directors are proud of our people, and the commitment, passion and dedication they have shown to deliver a great customer experience. The health, safety and well-being of our people is a responsibility we take very seriously, with continued focus on how we can support our people with their well-being and mental health. We continue to ensure that our people are treated fairly and respectfully, and we proactively promote diversity and inclusion so people can be themselves at work. We evaluate the benefits offered to employees regularly and seek to refine the offering to better support colleagues.
Job applications are welcomed from all parts of the community, and we treat all job applicants and employees equally throughout the employee life cycle, regardless of their age, ability, marital or partnership status, race, religion or belief, gender or sexual orientation. Through developing and embedding our values and behaviours, the Directors are focused on creating an environment where our people feel valued, engaged and perform to the best of their ability.
We train relevant employees and communicate with suppliers regarding our expectations in relation to responsible sourcing, anti-bribery, human rights and modern slavery. We embed values relating to these into our policies and practices.
Whilst there was restructuring in the year, the Directors ensure that redundancies were kept to a minimum and employees were provided with alternative roles where possible
Suppliers
END.’s success is underpinned by the strength and depth of its supplier relationships. The Directors understand our responsibility to represent our brand partners with the greatest respect, and we work positively and collaborate with our partners to develop our relationships and customer offering. We continue to expand our Womenswear offering and search for new and exciting brands to introduce to our customers. Our co-designed work enables us to deliver exclusive and differentiated products to our customers, with collaborations in the year including brands such as Adidas, Levi’s and Timex.
Shareholders
END. works closely with its shareholders to monitor performance, maintain strong governance, and develop the Group’s strategy. Following the change in ownership, the Directors have ensured that we remain aligned with ownership on key strategic decisions. These decisions include: investment in our technology infrastructure; implementation of project to bond the UK warehouse; investment in the workforce and executive teams.
Community & Environment
The Directors are committed to making a positive contribution to the communities in which END. operates. The Directors are committed to ensuring END. is a responsible taxpayer. END. has an open and transparent relationship with HMRC.
We believe that all companies have a duty to consider and understand how their operations can impact the environment. The Directors and teams work closely with suppliers and partners to explore opportunities for improvement. We have implemented changes to our packaging processes to optimise the size and therefore reduce the volume and associated. In the UK and Europe, our key supplier operates a carbon neutral delivery service.
Modern Slavery Policy Statement
Introduction
This statement has been published in accordance with the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 and sets out the steps that END. (Trading name of Ashworth & Parker Ltd.) has taken and continues to take to ensure that modern slavery and human trafficking are not taking place within our business or supply chains. This statement relates to the financial year ending 31 March 2025.
END. has a zero-tolerance approach to modern slavery, and we are committed to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business dealings and relationships. We are also committed to ensuring there is transparency in our business and in our approach to tackling modern slavery throughout our supply chains, consistent with our disclosure obligations.
We expect the same high standards from all our contractors, suppliers, and other business partners, ensuring they too are committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking in their corporate activities.
Our organisation
END. is a global omni-channel retailer, offering a unique customer experience online, via our mobile apps and physical stores. END. sells to customers around the world and has a large following on social media.
Responsible procurement
Risk Assessment
We recognise that fashion supply chains present a risk for modern slavery, particularly as a result of the pressure to keep costs low within seasonal demand. As we source product from many countries, including high risk areas, it is important to take steps and set-out policies to ensure instances of modern slavery do not occur. We do not tolerate modern slavery, either within our business itself or within our supply chain and would take the issue of tackling it extremely seriously. We focus on working with premium suppliers and expect our supply chain to share the same values.
Since we do not directly employ workers within our supply chains, nor do we manufacture any of the product we sell, we appreciate that achieving our objectives as set out above will not be a simple task. There are many constraints on our ability to improve working conditions, particularly where local government do not enforce the law. However, we aim to tackle these constraints through our partnerships with key suppliers and a process of continuous improvement.
In our business we source products, packaging, and services through these three main routes:
- Collaborations – we use key suppliers to provide END. collaborations. We play a central role in the design, material and choice of suppliers, contracting with brands directly. We consider the environmental and ethical impacts of our collaborations which is important in the context of our business and reputation.
- Branded Items – we source third party branded products. Whilst we have less direct control, we work with our brand partners to consider ethical and sustainability considerations.
- Own Branded Products – We ensure that all own branded products are sourced ethically and responsibly. This includes conducting thorough due diligence on all suppliers to ensure they comply with our ethical standards and the Modern Slavery Act 2015, implementing regular audits and assessments of our supply chains to identify and mitigate any risks of modern slavery, and providing training to our employees and suppliers to ensure they understand and comply with our modern slavery policy.
- Goods not for resale and services – we use third party service providers to provide services such as logistics, security, I.T. software, cleaning, and specialist recruitment.
Code of conduct
In acknowledging the importance of responsible sourcing and the promotion of fair and safe working conditions within our supply chain, all supply partners must meet, or exceed, our sustainability requirements.
As a minimum, these require supply partners to meet their legal obligations in the following areas:
- Human Rights, labour, and modern slavery
- Health and safety
- Environment
- Animal Welfare
Our responsible sourcing recognises that a supply chain can be complex, including diversity or product lines and the global citizens who produce them. Our intention is to promote high ethical standards within a supply chain without imposing unachievable conditions.
Non-compliance
Where non-compliance is identified through a third party, we will agree corrective actions with the supply partner alongside an agreed deadline. Satisfactory evidence of non-compliance resolution must be provided within an agreed timeframe.
Measures to continue to prevent modern slavery and human trafficking
We recognise that global influences on the environment, employment conditions and human rights are ever changing. To enable us to keep up to date with these changes, and any developments, we review our policies and procedures periodically and update them when necessary. We take this into account whilst developing our business internationally.
- Continue to develop staff training and awareness for relevant employees, and reporting mechanisms if a case of human trafficking, or slavery, is suspected.
- Embed supporting policies to promote ethical working practices.
- Monitor risks through the development of a supplier assessment for our procurement process.
This statement has been approved by the CEO, Parker Gundersen, and has been made pursuant to section 54 of the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 with respect to the financial year ending 31 March 2023. A signed copy is available upon request.