Modern Slavery Statement

This statement is published by The Sourdough Hub for the financial year ending 31 March 2026, in line with the spirit of section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015. We are a small business and currently fall below the £36 million annual turnover threshold that triggers the Act's mandatory disclosure requirements. We publish this statement voluntarily because the values we apply internally should be visible externally too.

1. Our business

The Sourdough Hub is a small specialist food brand based in Frome, Somerset. We design, source and pack sourdough starter kits, which we sell directly to consumers in the United Kingdom through our own website. We employ a small team and do not engage in any form of overseas manufacturing.

2. Our supply chain

Our supply chain is short, deliberately. Every ingredient or component in our kit comes from a supplier we have visited, spoken with, or vetted in detail. Our principal suppliers are:

• Heritage flour — a stone mill in Shropshire, family-run, with around eight employees on permanent contracts.
• Stoneware crocks — a ceramics studio in Dorset, founder-led, with a small studio team.
• Linen proving cloths — a family-run linen mill in Northern Ireland.
• Sourdough scoring lames and dough scrapers — a UK-based metalwork firm.
• Outer packaging and printed booklets — a printer in the West Country and a packaging supplier with FSC certification, both UK-based.
• Logistics — Royal Mail and Evri.

The reason we work this way is partly aesthetic, partly practical, and substantially ethical. A short, visible supply chain is the simplest way to know how the people producing our things are being treated.

3. Risk assessment

We assess each supplier against three questions:

1. Is the workforce permanent and visible? Casualised, hidden, or sub-contracted workforces are higher risk.
2. Are wages clearly above the legal minimum? If a supplier won't or can't tell us this, that is itself an answer.
3. Are working conditions consistent with the welfare standards we'd want for ourselves?

For our current supply chain we are satisfied that all three answers are positive. We have visited the flour mill three times, the ceramics studio twice, and the linen mill once. We meet our printer and packaging suppliers regularly.

4. Highest-risk areas we monitor

The only meaningful risk in our chain at present is in commodities upstream of our flour mill — the wheat itself, which is sourced primarily from UK arable farms but with a small proportion sourced internationally during low-yield seasons. We have asked our miller to share their own due diligence on these arrangements, and they have done so. We are satisfied that the arrangements are appropriate but we will keep this question live.

5. What we do

• We pay everyone above the Real Living Wage. All staff at The Sourdough Hub, on every type of contract, including casual cover, are paid at or above the rate set by the Living Wage Foundation. As of this statement, our lowest pay rate is £13.60/hour.
• We do not use unpaid internships, trial shifts, or zero-hours contracts.
• We have a clear grievance procedure. Staff and contractors can raise concerns with the founder directly, in confidence, in writing or in person. We take any concern about working conditions, anywhere in our chain, seriously.
• Our suppliers are required to confirm, when first engaged and at annual review, that they pay all staff above legal minimums and that no part of their operation involves unfree labour, debt bondage, or trafficking. We retain this confirmation in writing.
• We will not engage any supplier who cannot or will not provide this confirmation.

6. Whistleblowing

If anyone — staff, supplier, customer, or stranger — has reason to believe that someone in our supply chain is being exploited, we want to hear about it. Email Clara Ashworth directly at hello@thesourdoughhub.co.uk. We will protect the confidentiality of anyone who reports a concern in good faith, and we will follow it up.

Concerns can also be reported to the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) or the Modern Slavery Helpline on 08000 121 700.

7. Training

Every member of The Sourdough Hub team is briefed annually on what modern slavery is, what indicators to look for in a supplier or workplace context, and how to escalate concerns. New starters are briefed within their first month.

8. Looking ahead

For the year ahead, we plan to:

• Visit the linen mill in Northern Ireland in person.
• Add formal annual sign-off paperwork to our supplier onboarding process.
• Publish a short summary of any supply chain changes in our annual update to this statement.

9. Approval

This statement was approved by Clara Ashworth, Founder, on 3 May 2026, on behalf of The Sourdough Hub. It will be reviewed and republished annually.