Dyson's response
5 July 2021
The Sunday Mirror report on 20th June, to which you refer, makes allegations against ATA Industrial and stated that there is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Dyson. The article contains factual inaccuracies about which we are in correspondence, however, Dyson takes all allegations relating to our suppliers very seriously and undertakes appropriate investigations whenever concerns come to light.
Our regular independent audits do not support allegations made in the article, however, we began further investigation as soon as the allegations came to light. As part of these investigations, Dyson has commissioned additional comprehensive audits of ATA – of both their Dyson and non-Dyson operations – using independent internationally recognised auditing companies. We hold our suppliers to account and if any breaches of our policies were to be found we would take swift corrective action.
We operate an ethical and responsible global supply chain, our approach is anchored in constant improvement and we take action where we see any evidence of wrongdoing. As a company we are committed to policies and standards, consistent with international regulations, that are regularly and thoroughly reviewed with all suppliers. All suppliers commit to these contractually binding standards which are monitored regularly through our own audits as well as those undertaken by independent internationally recognised auditing companies.
Dyson’s Ethical Recruitment Policy has prohibited the payment of recruitment fees within our supply chain since 2016 and we regularly monitor compliance. We acknowledge that some workers who joined contract manufacturers before this policy came into effect may have paid fees to recruitment agents. Dyson’s contract manufacturers will reimburse these workers over the course of 2021 and that process has begun. This commitment and further details on our approach can be found in our 2020 Modern Slavery Statement.