Where we use, we, us, or Lowell in this statement, we mean Lowell Financial Ltd (company number 04558936) on behalf of itself and each of the following UK companies:
We are now publishing Lowell’s eighth slavery and human trafficking statement in accordance with section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 for the financial period 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024. This statement sets out the work that we have undertaken to develop our systems and processes to increase transparency and eradicate the risk of modern slavery in our business and throughout our supply chains since we published our seventh modern slavery statement.
Our business is one of Europe’s largest credit management companies with a mission to make credit work better for all.
We are comprised of a number of legal entities, some of which are authorised and supervised by regulatory bodies. We serve every part of the credit management value chain across a range of sectors with combined expertise in debt purchase, litigation, business process outsourcing, credit management and e-commerce.
We are proud to work with our clients, which include some of the largest and most respected companies in the UK ranging from banks, retailers, credit card, mobile phone, home shopping to utility (gas, electricity and water) companies.
Working at Lowell is about collectively pursuing our vision to make credit work better for all, striving to deliver a great experience for our customers and having strong regulator and client relationships through which we are changing the conversation about debt.
We now have approximately 1,800 colleagues in the UK and we continually aim to create a place where everyone works with pride and high levels of colleague engagement. It is extremely important to us that we have a positive work culture where there is trust, accountability and collaboration.
We make sure that we comply with all relevant employment legislation, offering salaries for our entry roles over and above National Minimum Wage. We are an equal opportunities employer; diversity and inclusion is part of our people agenda, and we strive to provide a flexible and competitive compensation and benefits package. We are a highly regulated business and key ‘reward’ decisions are governed through our formal Remuneration Committee.
We promote a great working environment and support the physical and mental wellbeing of colleagues through a number of initiatives as part of our people and culture strategy. We have a continual focus on growth and development, by providing a suite of relevant learning provisions tailored to individual needs in line with our corporate strategy.
We have a number of policies in place, which support our anti-slavery work, including our Group Human Rights Policy, UK Financial Crime Policy, Group Procurement Policy, UK Speak-Up Whistleblowing Policy, UK Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy, UK Recruitment Policy and UK Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy. Our colleagues are also guided by our Group Code of Conduct and the Group’s annual Sustainability Report.
Our Lowell Mission and Values are designed to support an environment where colleagues are comfortable to speak up and challenge the status quo. In particular, our Whistleblowing Policy encourages colleagues to report any concerns about malpractice or wrongdoing. We also work with an independent third party provider to provide colleagues with an additional option to raise potential issues and to ensure that they feel able to do so on an anonymous basis. We are committed to the highest possible standards of openness, probity and
accountability and we expect our colleagues and others that we deal with, who have serious concerns, to come forward and voice those concerns.
We will continue to review, update and, where appropriate, develop and improve our policies. We have also established a mandatory training framework, which supports our commitment to regulatory compliance, including anti-bribery and whistleblowing. We require all our colleagues to have an awareness of our policies and complete the mandatory training, which is actively monitored.
We operate in a highly regulated industry and given the nature of our business, we believe there is a low risk of slavery, human trafficking or child labour having a connection with our commercial activities. We only work with appropriate suppliers who can meet the standards we expect which is supported by our comprehensive Group level Supplier Code of Conduct. This outlines how we manage human rights in our supply chain by encouraging behaviours and practices consistent with our own policies.
In order to support the quality and standard of the services we provide to our clients, customers and colleagues, we procure a range of goods and services including, but not limited to, information technology, payment and invoice, and catering and cleaning services. The Lowell supply chain is predominantly based in the UK South Africa and the EU.
Our procurement function and third-party risk management framework continue to develop year on year and together operate to provide effective oversight and management of our strategic supplier relationships. We incorporate robust anti-slavery provisions within our contractual templates as a matter of course.
We will continue to provide adequate resources, training and investment to ensure the successful application of this statement and that the work undertaken is proportionate to the risks in our supply chain. This includes undertaking a risk assessment of our supply chain, together with a review of our supplier onboarding process. We will continue to take proactive measures to monitor supplier compliance with all relevant anti-slavery
legislation.
This slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending 31 December 2024 has been approved for and on behalf of all of the companies named at the beginning of this statement.
John Pears
CEO, UK
Approved on 1 May 2025