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Unseen is awarded new funding from the CIPS Foundation to turn Helpline intelligence into action

The first phase of Unseen’s collaboration with the CIPS Foundation is now transitioning, and phase two begins with a new focus on developing unique insights from Unseen’s Helpline and Business data to equip supply chain actors with intelligence to drive behaviour change and build ethical procurement practices.

Through new funding and advancements made during the first phase of this collaboration, Unseen is now equipped for phase two, where the focus turns from strengthening systems to maximising the impact of the intelligence they generate.

By analysing emerging trends, identifying recurring risk factors, and translating this into practical guidance, Unseen aims to help procurement professionals take informed, proactive steps to protect workers and promote ethical supply chain culture. To understand how we arrived here, it’s worth revisiting what was achieved during phase one. 

What happened during phase one

Thanks to £60K of funding from the CIPS Foundation, Unseen has been able to strengthen and automate the Helpline’s technological foundations, improving how quickly supply chain risk intelligence is shared with key stakeholders. 

These developments have already made a significant difference. New systems have reduced the Helpline’s webform backlog by around 50%, meaning people are receiving support faster and cases can be prioritised more effectively. Enhanced data collection, management and sharing have also made it easier to spot patterns, flag risks, and turn frontline intelligence into insight. 

Alongside technical improvements, Unseen invested in upskilling the data team, strengthening organisation wide capability in data analysis and insight. Phase one also strengthened links between the Helpline and business services, helping businesses and procurement professionals better understand and respond to supply chain risks. 

Emma Scott, CIPS Foundation Lead 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.” 

Seeing the impacts

Unseen’s recent hospitality report, Service not servitude, highlights the importance of this technology. New automated reporting has increased Helpline efficiency and enabled deeper insight into the hospitality sector, revealing a growing trend of exploitation among workers on skilled worker visas. Findings like these strengthen the response to modern slavery and help target intervention more effectively. 

Using gathered insight to fuel change

A second grant of £60k from the CIPS Foundation has enabled a phase two of the project. The funding will be used to help Unseen build proven data methods, deepen collaboration with businesses, strengthen data capability, and use Helpline intelligence to drive real change in supply chains.  

With the new technology developed in phase one, Unseen’s focus will be on turning Helpline intelligence into even more powerful insight. AI tools will be introduced to structure previously unstructured case data, allowing supply chain risks to be identified, analysed, and shared more quickly. Alongside this, the business services team will be developing new ways of bringing supply chain insights together to inform a clearer understanding of risk. 

The aim is simple but ambitious: to improve ethical procurement and supply chain practices by equipping businesses, law enforcement, and policymakers with clear, evidence-based intelligence that drives behaviour change towards more ethical and transparent supply chain processes.  

On the Helpline, this will mean greater operational efficiency, deeper analysis, and faster reporting of emerging trends. For businesses, it will provide a clearer view of worker-related risks, helping to map supplier vulnerabilities, identify patterns of exploitation, and build safer, more sustainable supply chains that protect both workers and organisations. 

Using data to protect human rights and abolish modern slavery

Together, these developments mark a shift in how modern slavery intelligence is used. While phase one focused on building the foundations by creating faster systems, stronger data, and clearer insight, phase two will focus on impact, using that intelligence to drive earlier intervention, smarter procurement decisions, and more effective responses across sectors. 

By connecting frontline Helpline intelligence with business data and worker voice, Unseen is strengthening the link between identification and prevention. The result is a more informed, proactive approach to tackling modern slavery, one that actively protects people at risk while supporting organisations to build supply chains can stand behind. 

Unseen is generating new data all the time. By becoming a Business Portal member you will get access to the exclusive data we receive about cases of labour abuse and exploitation. 

We share relevant information from our Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline with our Business Portal members. Our business account managers are on hand to walk you through the next steps, help you with remedies, offer on-the-ground support and share bespoke trend analysis to help you continuously improve. 

If you’d like more information on Unseen’s business portal, please visit business services page. If you’re looking to contact a member of our team, please contact [email protected].

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Justine Currell

As I came to understand more about the issue, including through a visit to an Unseen safehouse, I knew I needed to do more to stop this abuse and exploitation.

For the last five years of my Civil Service career, I was the Modern Slavery Senior Policy Advisor in the Home Office and led on development of the Modern Slavery Act, including the transparency in supply chains provision and business guidance.

I joined Unseen to lead the development of the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline, and Unseen’s work with businesses. I am regularly called upon to present at national and international conferences and use my experience of working with Ministers to influence other governments internationally to take action to address modern slavery and, in particular, business supply chain issues.

In my spare time I enjoy keeping fit, music, reading and travelling.

Andrew Wallis

What ultimately compelled me to act was a report on how people from Eastern Europe were being trafficked through Bristol airport to the USA. Kate Garbers, who went on to be an Unseen Director, and I wrote to all the city councillors, MPs and the Police Chief Constable challenging them on the issue. The challenge came back to us: this city needs safe housing for trafficked women. And so Unseen began.

But we never wanted Unseen to be just about safe housing. We wanted to end slavery once and for all, and that remains our driving focus.

I chaired the working group for the Centre for Social Justice’s landmark report “It Happens Here: Equipping the United Kingdom to Fight Modern Slavery”. This is now acknowledged as the catalyst behind the UK’s Modern Slavery Act of 2015. It was a great honour to be awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours that year. On the other hand, I’ve also been described as “the loveliest disrupter you could ever hope to meet”.

This job has taken me from building flat-pack furniture for safehouses, to working with businesses to address slavery in supply chains, to delivering training, raising awareness and advising governments around the world.

When not at work, I enjoy travelling, spending time with my dog Harley, cooking, supporting Liverpool and Yorkshire CC, music (I’m a former DJ) and endurance events such as the Three Peaks Challenge and Tribe Freedom Runs – which I vow never to do again. Until the next time.