SupplyChainTalk: Whistleblowing in supply chain transparency

On 19 March 2025, SupplyChainTalk host Ana Maria Velica was joined by Elisa Gustavo António Simbine, Commercial Director, Belutécnica; and Martin Mirimo, Head of Supplier Relationship Management, Travelodge. 

 

Views on news 

New research reveals the financial impact to the taxpayer of failing to listen to whistleblowers. The Post Office Horizon scandal, the Countess of Chester/ Lucy Letby scandal and the collapse of the construction firm Carillion alone have so far cost the taxpayer £426 million. 

 

Businesses must implement a secure an anonymous whistle-blowing system to encourage people to come forward. Because whistle blowing often happens in global supply chains, companies must also ensure they provide multi-language support and create a strong ethical culture including training in compliance and whistleblowing.    

 

An ongoing exercise 

Ethics are missing from school curricula, therefore in-company training must be ongoing to create habits. Employees, however, won’t challenge bad behaviour, especially those of their superiors, unless they feel safe to do so.  

 

To keep employees’ trust, it’s key that whistleblower reports are acted upon. Cultivating a culture of accountability can also increase resilience within the supply chain.  Regular conversations about ethical concerns that employees have can be conducted on a regular basis just like CPD reviews.  Businesses can also carry out regular audits for their suppliers or demand compliance with their ethical standards from upstream suppliers.

 

Unethical behaviour should have consequences also in terms of the perpetrator losing membership of professional standards bodies. Major revelations about bad practices such as Volkswagen’s use of illegal software in vehicles or Tesla’s unsafe working conditions were instigated by whistleblowers. Other cases in construction have been disclosed thanks to a supervisor’s ability to pick up telltale signs of worker mistreatment.  

The panel’s advice 

• Ethical compliance shouldn’t be a tick-the-box exercise carried out on day one and then forgotten about.   
• Be proactive in tackling ethical problems before they escalate.   
• Create safe spaces where employees feel empowered to speak up.