The following is a voluntary statement made by Côte Restaurant Group Ltd (Côte) indicating its policies and actions with regard to modern slavery.
Summary
The United Kingdom Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires certain businesses to provide disclosure concerning their efforts, if any, to ensure there is no modern slavery or trafficking in their organisation or supply chain.
This modern slavery and human trafficking statement (Statement) is made by Côte Restaurant Group Ltd (Côte) and sets out the steps that Cote has taken over the past twelve months to tackle slavery and human trafficking in its business and across its supply chains. Cote reviews and updates this Statement regularly and will provide an updated Statement within six months of its next financial year end (28 September 2025).
Scope of this Statement
Côte is a chain of branded restaurants that operates within a corporate group of companies, set out in the table below. This Statement applies to all group companies listed below:
| Company | Role of Company |
| Better Taste Holdings 1 limited | Ultimate parent holding company |
| Better Taste Holdings 2 Limited | Intermediate holding company |
| Cote Restaurant Group Limited | Restaurant operating company |
| Greenfield Food Supply Limited | Production and Kitchen company |
| Cote Deliveries Limited | Retail Company |
| Cote Restaurant Collection Limited | Currently dormant |
Description of business and supply chain
Description of business:
Côte is a group of restaurants specialising in French bistro cuisine. It has circa 70 restaurants in the United Kingdom and around 2,500 employees. Within Côte, a central Commercial Team is responsible for the approval of suppliers and the procurement of food, drinks and consumables to all aspects of the business. The People Team is responsible for the implementation of and monitoring compliance with all applicable Human Resources legislation. Other service providers are managed on a departmental basis.
Business ethics are at the heart of the Côte business model. Promoting positive change is at the heart of everything that we do. This philosophy also sits at the heart of our employment policies and our supply chain management. We also take extremely seriously our legal and compliance obligations in our business conduct and strive to observe these fully. This includes our duties under the MSA.
Côte adopts a zero-tolerance stance in relation to modern slavery and human trafficking across its business and supply chain. Côte is extending its existing policies to set out our comprehensive and uncompromising values in relation to these issues. The intention is to create a clear and concrete declaration of principles which leaves no doubt in relation to our position on these matters.
Description of our supply chain
Members of our supply chain include sellers of ingredients and wholesalers from the UK and the rest of the world, as well as suppliers of business inputs such as, energy, information technology and services. We require high standards of our supply chain and monitor this by building a close relationship with all levels of management at our suppliers; visiting facilities & inspecting processes but in parallel; running an audit process led by our Business Integrity team on an annual or bi-annual basis according to risk. All contracts we have in place with our suppliers and others in the supply chain require compliance with all modern slavery and human trafficking legislation, including the Modern Slavery Act 2015. If we find that a supplier or entity within the supply chain has breached these obligations, we would be entitled to terminate our contract with them and would take swift action with at most a 7-day rectification period.
Details of checks and due diligence to be conducted on members of the supply chain
In order to protect the high levels of quality associated with our brand and to continually improve these further, it has been our longstanding practice to require members of our supply chain to agree to audits on an ad-hod or pre-agreed basis.
Due diligence & audits on suppliers are not limited to questionnaires. Côte also holds face to face meetings with key suppliers; often at their respective premises, to discuss the steps they have taken and are taking in order to ensure there is no slavery or human trafficking in their organisation or their own supply chain.
Côte will take swift action with suppliers if Côte suspects that modern slavery or human trafficking is present in a supplier’s business or where they fail to meet the ethical business standards expected from them.
Training
To ensure a high level of understanding of the risks of modern slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains and our business, we provide training to relevant members of staff. The training is mandatory for all General Managers and Head Chefs and is available to managers at all levels.
Employment
In the context of our own organisation, we are committed to the principle that those who work for us must have chosen their work freely and must be treated with dignity. Côte is committed to paying its workers no less than the applicable minimum wage. Our employment contract requires all employees to comply with modern slavery and human trafficking legislation and our policies covering this.
Violations
Côte will take very seriously any instance of suppliers being involved directly or indirectly in modern slavery or human trafficking. Côte’s response to any such discovery that isn’t rectified in the 7-day period will result in the relationship & supply of goods or services being terminated.
Côte will not tolerate any of its officers or employees being involved in modern slavery or human trafficking and will take disciplinary action (including, termination of employment) any officer or employee is found to be perpetuating modern slavery or human trafficking. Where Côte suspects a criminal offence has occurred, it shall report the matter to the police.
Risk assessment
Côte has identified its procurement and supply chain management are the key areas of risk for the business.
The key areas of risk include but not exclusive:
Côte has identified that these risks could be found in its supply of food ingredients and also recognises that its restaurant operations could also be at risk of exposure to slavery and trafficking.
These categories in particular will be an important (but not the sole) area of our due diligence and audit efforts and we will carry out regular risk assessments in respect of them.
We regularly review risk assessments must be reviewed to take account of any new information regarding modern slavery and human trafficking.
Any questions or queries in relation to this Statement should be directed to: modern.slavery@cote.co.uk
This Statement has been approved by the board of directors of Côte Restaurant Group Ltd, which has delegated approval of this Statement on its behalf to the directors of each of the functional businesses within Côte’s group of companies.
Name: John Rooney
Title: Company Secretary
Date: 02 September 2025
