Unseen’s Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline has been awarded £60K in funding for an innovative new project aimed at enhancing its data infrastructure and improving support for UK businesses tackling modern slavery risks within their supply chains.
This funding comes from CIPS Foundation, a charity linked to the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), which works to improve global procurement practices, alleviating challenges faced by communities through ethical and sustainable supply chain standards.
With this support, the Helpline will leverage cutting-edge technology to boost its data analysis capabilities, allowing businesses to access more timely and accurate supply chain intelligence on modern slavery, including data on labour exploitation cases.
Businesses will access these improved insights through the Helpline’s Business Portal, a data-driven online platform that helps them better identify supply chain vulnerabilities and implement preventative measures.
In doing so, this year-long initiative will promote ethical procurement, drive corporate accountability, and provide businesses with the tools they need to act more swiftly and responsibly in combating modern slavery.
Harnessing the power of data to combat modern slavery
Modern slavery and exploitation continue to be widespread in UK supply chains, impacting vulnerable individuals and posing significant risks to businesses. The Helpline plays a crucial role in tackling this problem.
Alongside offering confidential advice and support to potential victims, the Helpline collects unique data from every contact made. These insights help businesses, law enforcement, charities, and policymakers shape effective anti-slavery strategies and interventions.
In 2023, the UK-wide service received 11,700 contacts (1) —marking a 20% increase from the previous year— and is projected to handle over 40,000 contacts by 2027.
The data gathered sheds light on exploitation types, recruitment tactics, methods of control and victim demographics across every UK region—shared monthly, quarterly and annually by our Helpline.
Supporting businesses to build ethical supply chains with data-driven insights
With funding from the CIPS Foundation, Unseen will enhance the data infrastructure behind the Helpline, improving its ability to provide businesses with faster and more accurate supply chain intelligence on modern slavery via the Helpline’s Business Portal.
When reports of potential labour exploitation or abuse are made to the Helpline, businesses are alerted through the Business Portal, acting as an early warning system. This allows businesses to take immediate action to address risks before they escalate.
By streamlining data processes, the new technology will significantly reduce the time between when a call is received and when businesses are alerted. Faster response times will empower businesses to act quickly, mitigating exploitation risks effectively.
Additionally, the enhanced system will allow Unseen’s expert team to work more effectively with businesses, suppliers, and other stakeholders. This collaborative approach ensures concerns are addressed proactively, helping businesses implement preventive measures and maintain ethical supply chains.
Key improvements to supply chain intelligence for businesses
The project will deliver key upgrades to the Helpline’s analysis software, providing businesses with new, actionable insights into supply chain exploitation. These improvements include:
- Detecting emerging patterns: Identifying new trends in exploitation cases that were previously undetectable.
- Identifying relationships between cases: This capability will highlight connections between exploitation cases, allowing Unseen to provide a more comprehensive understanding of potential issues.
- Automating reporting: Anonymised data reports and trends will be automatically generated and visualised, offering businesses quick, easy access to relevant information to guide decision-making.
These advancements will allow Unseen to offer a more targeted, impactful service, enabling businesses to manage modern slavery risks in procurement more effectively, while improving compliance with anti-slavery legislation.
As Andrew Wallis, CEO of Unseen, explains: “Identifying emerging patterns quickly is critical for effective interventions. With this funding, we can strengthen our Helpline’s data capabilities, empowering businesses to build ethical, resilient supply chains.”
As a key partner in this initiative, the CIPS Foundation is proud to support the project’s focus on equipping businesses with actionable insights.
Ben Farrell CEO of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) says: “Being able to support Unseen through the CIPS Foundation is core to our mission of promoting ethical procurement throughout the supply chain.
“Modern Slavery needs to be eradicated and businesses need the tools and support to ensure they are equipped to combat this. By strengthening the Helpline and working closely with Unseen we aim to help the most at risk individuals from being exploited further.”
How will this initiative benefit the fight against modern slavery?
This initiative will directly benefit businesses engaged with Unseen through its Portal and Business Hub —a members-only service providing tailored resources, expert training, and consultancy to support responsible supply chain practices.
By equipping organisations with the tools and knowledge needed to address modern slavery risks and implement effective anti-slavery measures, the Hub empowers businesses to lead in ethical procurement.
The project will also deliver benefits to the broader procurement sector, anti-slavery organisations, and key stakeholders, including law enforcement and policymakers, by offering more actionable data to enable coordinated and effective responses.
Unseen’s Helpline will continue to share anonymised data insights and trends through sector-specific roundtables, events, and targeted reports, fostering cross-sector collaboration in tackling exploitation.
Andrew adds: “We are extremely grateful to the CIPS Foundation for their support in helping us enhance our Helpline data capabilities. This initiative is a significant step forward in the fight against modern slavery.
“By combining technology with our unique Helpline data, we can offer businesses the tools they need to better protect workers, comply with legislation, and lead the way in ethical procurement.”
The enhanced Helpline data capabilities are set to be rolled out starting January 2025, with full functionality expected by January 2026.
Join us in the fight against modern slavery
We are proud to lead this important work, and we invite businesses to partner with us in building ethical, transparent supply chains.
Learn more about our Business Hub and Helpline Business Portal and how we can help your organisation manage modern slavery risks. Get in touch today to take action.
(1) Contacts refer to calls, web form submissions, and app submissions made to the Helpline by those seeking support or reporting potential cases of exploitation.
