Our responsibility

Social issues and the work environment are very important to Hööks, and we focus actively on them. We are constantly asking ourselves what else we could do to improve. We follow up any irregularities with our suppliers in order to once again be certain that they are fulfilling requirements. In case of deficiencies, we will do our best to rectify these.

Hööks' mission is to sell and produce products that are of good quality and correspond to what our customers want. Our supply chain managers spend a lot of time sourcing suppliers who meet our environmental and quality requirements. Our products are used by many people. Our market comprises everyone, including future generations. So it makes sense to us to clearly work within the framework for sustainable development in which both environmental and social factors are prerequisites for long-term economic growth.

Corporate social responsibility is a fundamental value underpinning all of our work, and we have stringent requirements regarding the ethics and morals of our suppliers. We want to be able to assure customers that the products we sell were manufactured under legal working conditions that respect people and human rights.

The supplier is responsible for ensuring that products are manufactured both by them and by their own suppliers in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the ILO's conventions on labour standards and the rights of workers. The supplier is also responsible for complying with the relevant country's legislation throughout its organisation. Hööks will ascertain that no one is denied their basic human rights, or suffers physical or psychological injury. This means that matters such as, for example, child slavery, hazardous work environments or unsuitable working conditions are unacceptable. These guidelines and additional guidelines are documented in the Hööks Code of Conduct, which our suppliers are required to accept and sign.

Hööks is a member of the Swedish Chemicals Group which discusses both production processes and chemicals in products, including how we can improve still further in our environmental thinking, not just within the industry but also in our various production countries. We also have a contract with Swerea/IVF in which we take samples of our products to check that they do not contain any hazardous chemicals according to applicable legislation such as REACH and the POP Convention. Hööks has also signed an agreement with Animal Rights Sweden (Djurens Rätt) regarding our fake fur policy: i.e. we do not use any real fur, and all our leather is a by-product of food production.

Although we demand high requirements of our suppliers, it goes without saying that we cannot guarantee that all suppliers always adhere to our requirements. On the other hand, if we learn that a supplier is not fully adhering to our requirements and is not prepared to take steps to modify their production, we can sever the partnership. But our objective is to constantly improve, to work with our suppliers to improve conditions in their workplaces, and through trade to contribute to better living standards in their countries.