The Black Lives Matter movement has brought the historical slave trade into sharp focus. Photo / Getty Images
The Black Lives Matter movement has brought the historical slave trade into sharp focus. Photo / Getty Images
Tate & Lyle Sugars outlines in detail online the steps it takes to make sure that no workers being trafficked or coerced are being used to make the sugar that sweetens countless British cups of tea.
In a section of its website on "modern slavery", the popular brand sets out its work with smallholders in Belize and ship-owners that transport its goods across the Atlantic.
There is no mention, however, of British sugar industry's historic deep ties with slavery.
Henry Tate and Abram Lyle had not yet founded their companies when Britain abolished slavery. Yet University College London researchers argue that the sugar industry that spawned their firms owed its scale and might to slave workers.
In research published by the Tate gallery, they also note that Britain's sugar continued to come from the Caribbean and South America even after the Slavery Abolition Act was passed in 1833, banning slavery throughout the British Empire.
Tate & Lyle Sugars (which split from Tate & Lyle in 2010 and is now owned by ASR Group) said that while there was no direct link to the slave trade, "we, like many businesses and organisations in the UK, have a responsibility."
A spokesman added: "We are privileged to operate factories in one of the most diverse parts of the UK [London], giving us a great opportunity to listen and learn from our community what more we can do to ensure opportunities are open to all.
"We are proud of the work we do with our local community and schools to inspire young people, and support community groups that have a focus on these issues."
The extent to which companies need to face up for direct or indirect links to slavery is suddenly the subject of intense discussion in British boardrooms.
The toppling of the statue of slave trader Edward Colston in Bristol earlier this month, amid protests over the killing in the US by police of George Floyd, has started a reckoning that has reached corporate life.
Greene King and Lloyd's of London, the insurer, apologised on Wednesday for their links to the slave trade and promised financial support for ethnic minority communities.
Greene King founder Benjamin Greene had received nearly £500,000 (NZ$966,000) in today's money in compensation for plantations after slavery was abolished. The pub chain's chief executive, Nick Mackenzie, said it was "inexcusable" that its founders had profited from slavery.
Others are under pressure to follow suit. Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays are among the other household names whose links with the slave trade are outlined in the UCL database.
Pressure is mounting amid criticism of companies that lack diversity on their boards and among the ranks of senior management. More than a third of FSTE 100 firms have all-white boards, according to the latest Parker review.
Protestors are pressuring governments and companies to confront the harsh realities of history. Photo / Getty Images
Sir John Parker has been personally visiting boardrooms to urge companies to act, saying it is crucial for boards to reflect changing demographics both in the UK and abroad.
Corporate efforts to face up to the past need to come with meaningful effort to increase equality, according to many experts - lasting beyond the glare of attention in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests.
"We know it's going to drop out of sight at some point, which is why organisations need to turn this into a legacy rather than a one-shot thing," says Martin Roach, of the consultancy Brands with Values.
"Understand what's going on in your business's culture - we have a tendency to ignore culture for too long. If you see it as something to deal with just now you are not going to resolve it properly. People are looking for systemic change - it takes time and it takes investment."
History offers plenty of examples of companies trying to face up to past wrongdoing. The German carmaker Volkswagen was supported by Hitler as part of his efforts to have all German families owning a car, and used slave labour from concentration camps.
It has paid reparations and now supports the International Auschwitz Committee as well as other efforts to remember the Holocaust and eliminate anti-semitism.
Yet chief executive Herbert Diess had to apologise just last year for inadvertently evoking a Nazi-era slogan while presenting VW's financial results. In apologising, he acknowledged the company's "special responsibility in connection with the Third Reich".
Roach, who is black and entered the workforce in the late 1990s, argues that all organisations should be making extra efforts on equality - not just those with clear historic links to the slave trade.
"Of course if there's evidence you should deal with that," he says. "But I don't think just because you don't have that explicit link that should take your foot off the pedal. That rhetoric lets other people off the hook."
