Suppliers

To ensure we have absolute visibility across our supply chain, rather than using third party agents to source our product, we have 100% traceability and work directly with our factories. This way we can control the quality of the product, as well as select suppliers based on their attitudes and practises toward workers welfare and environmental responsibility.

In most instances, we prefer to work with a single supplier who is a specialist in their area, or in cases of large categories, we may use 2 suppliers. This limited supply base means we can better control the quality of production of our garments, as well as build strong, meaningful partnerships with fewer key suppliers.

Our aim is to be as transparent with our supply chain as possible, whilst at the same time, manage any commercial risks around sensitive information which may be detrimental to our business. Where we have exclusive supply arrangements with suppliers we are comfortable sharing this information publicly. For suppliers who are non-exclusive, we have disclosed all the same information but withheld their names. However, all supplier information is disclosed to our independent audit partner - Child Labor Free. We will also happily provide in confidence, to NGOs and other audit organisations if requested. Our supplier information can be viewed below.

Barkers doesn’t accept any subcontracting. All Barkers suppliers have agreed that the manufacturing is all undertaken at the factory inspected by Barkers and our Audit partner. The checks are performed personally by Barkers Supply Chain Manager who is in China 4 times per year to inspect Barkers production as it goes through the production line to ensure no sub-contracting

Our Audit Partner SGS undertakes independent Social Compliance Audits on our behalf. After initial Audit each factory is then re-audited every 2yrs, or at the expiration of current audit certificate. In addition, our suppliers often have several other audit certification standards from other international brands they work with. To avoid “audit fatigue” as well as additional audit costs for our suppliers, we will accept current valid results from approved third-party audits. This is on the basis that the audit certifications are verified by us with the auditing party, and a full copy of the audit along with corrective action plans are provided for our records

INCIDENTS
100 incidents were reported in 2018.
All incidents were resolved within 60 days.
Of the incidents, 73% of these were minor with 0% critical.