NATIONAL WORLD LIMITED  Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement   Financial year ended 31 December 2024  This statement sets out National World’s actions to understand all potential modern slavery risks related to its  business and to put in place steps that are aimed at ensuring that there is no slavery or human trafficking in its  own business or its supply chain.  This statement relates to actions and activities during the current financial year.  National World is committed to operating all of its Group’s business activities to the highest standards of  business ethics and integrity. We are committed to understanding more about modern slavery and ensuring  there are no modern slavery concerns in our business or supply chain.  Modern slavery is a crime and a violation of fundamental human rights. It takes various forms, such as slavery,  servitude, forced and compulsory labour and human trafficking, all of which have in common the deprivation of  a person's liberty by another in order to exploit them for personal or commercial gain.   We have zero tolerance to slavery and human trafficking, and we are committed to continually improving our  practices to combat slavery and human trafficking. As part of our commitment, we have a dedicated compliance  team which consists of individuals from our Central Services, Legal and Human Resources departments.  In light of the obligation to report on measures to ensure that all parts of our business and supply chain are  slavery free, we have put in place a designated Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy, to demonstrate  our commitment to acting ethically and with integrity in all our business relationships and to implementing and  enforcing effective systems and controls to ensure slavery and human trafficking is not taking place anywhere  in our supply chains.  This statement is made pursuant to section 54(1) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 and constitutes our company’s  slavery and human trafficking statement for the financial year ending on 31 December 2024, and for the  forthcoming year.   Organisational structure and supply chains  National World is one of the largest local and regional media organisations in the UK. We provide news and  information services to communities through our extensive portfolio of publications and websites. Our supply chain consists of: 
  • Freelance editorial suppliers based predominantly in the UK; 
  • Large and small technology suppliers, based in both the UK and overseas; 
  • Awards and live events suppliers based predominantly in the UK; and 
  • Other suppliers of business services based predominantly in the UK. 
Supply chain risks  The Group’s suppliers are mostly based within the UK which has a developed culture of ethical business practice  and strong labour regulation. We have therefore assessed the overall risk of the Group contracting with  organisations that engage in slavery or human trafficking as relatively low. However, we have recognised that a  risk in our supply chain exists where the Group contracts with technology suppliers based overseas or which  have staff operating overseas.  Acts to address risks  We undertake the following activities on an ongoing basis to assess and mitigate the risk of modern slavery  within our business or supply chain: 
  • Conducting an internal risk assessment to identify which of the Group’s suppliers are most likely to  manufacture goods or provide services in countries and/or sectors where modern forms of slavery are  more likely to be prevalent; 
  • Consulting with those suppliers whom we have identified as presenting significant inherent risk in order  to understand more about their own businesses, supply chains and the steps they have taken to reduce  the risk of slavery and human trafficking; 
  • Reviewing the Group’s existing contractual arrangements and identifying ways these can be  strengthened to further reduce the risk of slavery and human trafficking in our businesses and supply  chains; and 
  • Providing anti-slavery training to all staff in accordance with the Modern Slavery Act 2015.  
Due diligence processes for slavery and human trafficking   National World recognises that everyone in the workplace should be able to raise concerns of abuse or labour  exploitation if they come across incidents through their work. Our Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Policy  requires that employees raise concerns via their line manager or an external whistleblowing hotline. If an  employee has concerns that someone they come into contact with in the course of their work might be breaking  modern slavery legislation, or that National World processes or procedures might be doing so, they should raise  this as a concern via their line manager or the whistleblowing hotline and it will be investigated.  Prior to entering into agreements with suppliers, they are issued with a compliance form which is designed to  assess areas of potential risk within our supply chains. The form also aims to ensure that suppliers have their  own clearly defined ethical working practices. This includes (i) having suitable anti‐slavery and human trafficking  policies and processes within their businesses and (ii) confirmation that they comply with the requirements of  the Modern Slavery Act 2015. This helps us to:  
  • Identify and assess potential risk areas in our supply chains; 
  • Mitigate the risk of slavery and human trafficking occurring in our supply chain; 
  • Monitor potential risk areas in our supply chains; and 
  • Protect whistleblowers. 
We will continue to monitor the Group’s supply chain to assess ongoing risks and develop measures to further  reduce the risk of slavery and human trafficking taking place in the Group’s supply chain and/or businesses.  Training  To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chain  and our business, we provide training modules and welcome an open dialogue with our staff in respect of  perceived or actual human rights violations. National World rolled out a new modern slavery training module  during 2023.  Appendix 1 - List of Relevant National World Subsidiaries 
  • Bann Media Limited 
  • Connect Local Limited 
  • Express and Star Limited 
  • Insider Media Limited 
  • JPIMedia Publishing Limited 
  • Midland News Association Limited 
  • National World Midlands Limited 
  • National World NI Limited 
  • National World NMSY Limited 
  • National World North East Limited 
  • National World North West Limited 
  • National World Publishing Limited 
  • National World Off Road Limited 
  • National World Scotsman Publications Limited 
  • National World South Limited 
  • National World SWP Limited 
  • National World Systems Limited 
  • National World Yorkshire Limited 
  • Newsco Insider Limited 
  • Not a Newspaper Limited 
  • Shropshire Newspapers Limited 
  • Shropshire Star Limited 
  • The Business Magazine Group Limited 
Signed: Russell Whitehair Director  Dated: 10 July 2025 

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