Modern Slavery Act Statement 2021 for BioMed Realty, L.P.
Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement for the Financial Year 2021
The BioMed Realty, L.P., group of companies (operating in the U.K. as BMR-UK Developer Limited and other affiliates) is dedicated to conducting its business consistent with the highest standards of business ethics, and takes its social responsibilities very seriously. We do not tolerate forced, bonded or involuntary labour, human trafficking or any forms of slavery, and we are committed to taking the necessary steps to prevent those things within our operations and supply chain. Business practices can always be improved, however, and we are, therefore, committed to understanding more about modern slavery and improving our practices to ensure that slavery and human trafficking never manifest themselves in our business or supply chain.
Our Group's Organisational Structure
BMR-UK Developer Limited is a private company that is located in the U.K., with a parent company in the U.S. The group (including BMR-UK Developer Limited) is the largest private provider of real estate solutions to the life science and technology industries and has a proven track record of bringing unmatched expertise to the full range of real estate services — leasing, development, construction, redevelopment, acquisition, financing and property management — to our tenant partners in the U.S. and U.K.
With over 12.0 million square feet of rentable space worldwide, BioMed Realty’s world-class portfolio of facilities offers partners a wide range of options, from traditional office space to small lab space to state-of-the-art build-to-suit life science properties.
This statement is made on behalf of the U.K.-based operation, but all principles, policies and processes are or will be disseminated to all overseas companies within the group.
Our Supply Chains
We procure a wide range of goods and services from a variety of external suppliers and providers. Our supply chains currently support the following activities:
- Retail services;
- Product manufacture and import;
- Advertising and marketing;
- IT services;
- Operations and infrastructure support;
- Business process outsourcing;
- Distribution; and
- Professional financial and other support activities.
We have adopted a risk-based approach to the assessment of our business and supply chain, which has necessitated taking geographical, industry and market factors into account in order to identify categories of supply that may present a higher risk of modern slavery being present. We focus our attention on suppliers in these categories, although any resulting policy changes will be extended to incorporate our whole business. Accordingly, we have implemented our Vendor Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which requires all vendors to conduct their employment practices in compliance with all applicable labour laws and regulations.
Actions to Address Risk
As part of our initiative to identify and mitigate risk, we have undertaken or are in the process of undertaking the following actions:
- Developing contractual obligations that reflect modern slavery legislation across our suite of standard terms and bespoke contractual arrangements;
- Building the assessment of slavery and trafficking risk into our supplier sourcing, due diligence and onboarding programmes; and
- Reviewing and assessing existing suppliers and, in particular, their sourcing policies in key risk areas.
We endeavour to favour suppliers that operate under recognised ethical codes of conduct that include regular compliance audits, and we only work with companies that contractually commit to complying with applicable laws and regulations.
Our Policies on Slavery and Human Trafficking
We are committed to ensuring that there is no modern slavery, human trafficking or forced labor in our supply chains or in any part of our business. To this end, in addition to reviewing and updating all policies that touch on identified areas of risk, we have a clear statement in our Vendor Code of Business Conduct and Ethics confirming our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships, and to implementing and enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure that forced labor is not taking place anywhere in our supply chains.
Vendors commit not to use child labor and to use only voluntary labor in their provision of services or goods. BioMed Realty strongly prohibits the use of any form of forced labor(whether indentured, bonded or prison labor) by any of its vendors.
Primary responsibility for identifying risks and implementing processes around prevention of modern slavery in our supply chains will lie with our Operations and Development teams. These teams will have ultimate responsibility for overseeing risk and process, and who will directly report on any issues, whether perceived or actual, to the Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary.
Further Steps
During the next phase of our programme, we intend to take the following additional steps:
- Developing and disseminating an anti-slavery and human trafficking policy throughout the group; and
- Implementing processes for identifying, assessing, mitigating and reporting specifically on modern slavery risks in our business.
This statement is made pursuant to 5.54(1) of the "Modern Slavery Act 2015" and constitutes BioMed Realty’s slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year 2021.
Director Approval
This statement was approved on November 16, 2020, by Kevin M. Simonsen, Executive Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary of BioMed Realty, L.P., and BMR-UK Developer Limited, and Director of BMR-UK Developer Limited, who will review and update it annually.