It is a common misconception that modern slavery is a problem mitigated by laws, audits or supply-chain questionnaires – and maybe more so, that this is an issue we no longer encounter in the UK. However, it remains a critical issue across several industries. Perhaps the most important insight from the 2025 Modern Slavery in Construction Roundtable, co-hosted by LGT Wealth Management, CCLA and the Cabinet Office, was that the people most affected by exploitation often have the quietest voices in the system. For investors, ensuring that the voices of those affected are heard is essential to understanding risk and supporting long-term value whilst also ensuring a better, safer world for all.
Modern slavery is defined as the act of an individual being exploited by others, for personal or commercial gain. Whether tricked, coerced or forced, they lose their freedom and often work in unsafe and exploitative conditions. Modern slavery includes but is not limited to human trafficking, forced labour or debt bondage.
At LGT, we recognise that modern slavery is a systemic issue, one that still prevails across many high-risk industries like construction, automotives, textiles, care and agriculture, where supply chains are complex and usually labour intensive. We also know that tackling these issues isn’t something we can do alone, which is why collaboration and people-focused engagement are essential.
The 2025 roundtable made clear that modern slavery risks are rising, not falling. Complex subcontracting chains, worker isolation, migrant recruitment fees and weak oversight create conditions where exploitation can hide in legitimate business operations. Indeed, Unseen’s UK helpline identified nearly 500 potential victims in construction alone in 2024,1 and yet companies often report finding no issues – suggesting that current systems may not be capturing what is happening on the ground.
How can a building stand tall if its builders are broken in the process?
-Malaika Oringo
At the last roundtable – the second on the issue – survivor advocate Malaika Oringo’s message resonated across the room. Her experience working with trafficked people in the Democratic Republic of Congo and listening to miners involved in the global cobalt supply chain – used to produce batteries for electric vehicles, smartphones and laptops – was a stark reminder that exploitation is not abstract. It shapes lives and communities, and it ultimately shapes business performance too.
From an investment perspective, the absence of meaningful worker voice is a risk indicator for an organisation because it can conceal labour abuses, increase reputational exposure and signal weak governance. If the workforce feels unable to report abuse, investors often only discover the issues for the first time once it becomes a public scandal, a police investigation or legal action is taken; or when subsequent, costly delays to projects and operations arise. For example, as detailed in a 2022 report by Hope for Justice, a major police response called Operation Cardinas identified 33 businesses that unknowingly paid an organised criminal gang for forced labour between 2009 and 2018. The operation found that hundreds of trafficked workers were placed on large commercial sites within the UK, exposing just how easily exploitation can infiltrate supply chains without board-level visibility and thorough anti-slavery processes.2
At LGT, we are working to start shifting the conversation away from ‘policy compliance’ and towards understanding what reality really looks like for the individuals behind the supply chain. Our role as investors is not to run companies, but to ask better questions, hold companies to account and ensure boards are hearing from those most affected by their business models.
Through our partnership with FAST (Finance Against Slavery and Trafficking), and our collaboration with CCLA and others, we work to bring expert and survivor-led perspectives directly into our engagements. Examples of this include:
By grounding our engagement in affected-stakeholder perspectives, we hope to help companies anticipate risks earlier, improve labour visibility and strengthen operational resilience.
Our clients, as discerning investors, increasingly want to understand not only where their money is invested, but also how investee companies treat people across their value chains. Stronger worker protections not only help protect the individuals within the wider workforce, but can support more stable labour forces, fewer delays, better-quality output and lower reputational risk. In other words, ethical practices are frequently sound business practices.
Modern slavery will not be solved by investors alone, but by using our influence to elevate the voices that are most often unheard, we can help drive meaningful progress and press companies and policymakers to respect the rights of the people behind their products and services. At LGT, we see this as a core part of our responsibility as long-term stewards of our clients’ capital – ensuring that the people who build the world we invest in are protected, valued and heard.
[1] UK construction workers at risk from modern slavery, charity warns | Modern slavery | The Guardian
[2] Firms hire 500 victims for forced labour | Hope for Justice
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