Last updated: 3 September 2026
Labour exploitation in United Kingdom construction is real, and it travels through subcontracted and agency labour rather than through direct employment. We are too small for the reporting duty to apply to us. We are not too small to be a route into it, which is why this is published anyway.
1. Whether the law requires this of us
Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires a commercial organisation carrying on business in the United Kingdom with a total annual turnover of £36 million or more to publish a statement each financial year, approved by the board and signed by a director.
British Builders is far below that threshold, so section 54 does not apply and no statement is required. This one is published voluntarily, and should not be read as a section 54 statement.
2. Our business
British Builders is a privately owned, London-based business operating in and around London and, for larger projects, more widely across the United Kingdom. We carry out construction and building works, property maintenance and repairs, and related survey and planning work.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Legal entity | 24 British Builders Ltd, company number 10615360 |
| Registered office | 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ |
| Sector | Construction, property maintenance and facilities services |
| How work is delivered | Directly employed people, and trades engaged as subcontractors |
| Supply chain | Builders' merchants and material suppliers, predominantly United Kingdom based, and subcontracted trades |
3. Where the risk actually is
Naming a risk we can do something about is more use than a general condemnation of exploitation. In a business of our size and shape the risk is concentrated in a few places.
| Where | Why it is a risk | What we do about it |
|---|---|---|
| Subcontracted trades | We do not employ them, do not run their payroll, and do not see how they pay their people | We engage firms we can identify: a company or a named individual, with insurance, with a bank account in the same name as the business. We do not pay a gangmaster for a team of unnamed people |
| Labour supplied at short notice | Urgency is the standard cover for exploitation. A crew that appears the same day, cheaper than anyone else, is the classic pattern | Price that is far below the market is treated as a warning rather than a bargain, and the same checks apply however urgent the job |
| Cash payment | Cash removes the trail that shows a worker was actually paid | We pay subcontractors by bank transfer to an account in the name of the business or person doing the work. Several people paid into one account is a refusal |
| Right-to-work documents | Documents held by somebody other than the worker is one of the clearest indicators there is | Identity is checked with the person, not with whoever brought them |
| Imported materials | Some material supply chains carry a genuine risk overseas, and we buy through merchants rather than direct | We buy from established United Kingdom merchants who are themselves within scope of section 54, and we can ask a merchant for their statement |
4. What we ask of anyone we engage
These are conditions of working with us, not aspirations.
- Every worker on our sites is identifiable, and their right to work is checked with them.
- Everyone is paid at least the National Minimum or National Living Wage for every hour worked, into an account in their own name.
- Nobody pays a fee to get work with us, or through anyone acting for us.
- No worker's identity documents are held by an employer, an agent or anybody else.
- Nobody is required to live in accommodation arranged by an employer as a condition of the job, or has the cost of it deducted so that pay falls below the legal minimum.
- A subcontractor who subcontracts further tells us, and the same conditions carry down the chain.
A firm that will not meet these does not work for us. That is the whole of the sanction, and it is the only one a business of our size needs.
5. Signs we tell our people to look for
Exploitation on a building site rarely announces itself. It looks like this.
- One person speaking for a group, and answering questions put to somebody else.
- Workers who do not know who employs them, what they are paid, or what they are owed.
- The same address, phone number or bank account for several different workers.
- Someone collecting other people's wages.
- A worker who appears unable to leave a job, or is fearful of a supervisor beyond ordinary workplace deference.
- Signs of poor accommodation, exhaustion or untreated injury.
Anyone with a concern is asked to raise it, however uncertain they are. It is not their job to be sure. It is ours to look.
6. Raising a concern
| How | |
|---|---|
| Tell us | Email enquiries@british-builders.co.uk, or speak to a director. A concern raised in good faith will not be held against the person raising it, whether or not it turns out to be founded |
| Modern Slavery Helpline | 08000 121 700, 24 hours a day, confidential and independent of us |
| In an emergency | 999. If someone is in immediate danger that call comes first, and ours second |
7. Review and contact
We review this Statement each year and whenever how we engage labour changes. Every edition is dated and the current one is on our website. If turnover reaches the section 54 threshold, this becomes a statutory statement: board approved, director signed, and linked from the home page.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| enquiries@british-builders.co.uk | |
| Phone | 0330 912 7443 |
| Post | 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ |