1. Why this is voluntary
Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires UK businesses with a turnover of £36 million or more to publish an annual statement. Fare 1 Limited is below that threshold and is not legally required to publish one. We publish anyway, as a positive commitment — we want to be transparent about how we run the business, even at our size.
2. Our business
Fare 1 is a UK private-hire vehicle operator dispatching licensed drivers across the country. We're Southampton-based, registered in England and Wales (company number 16106393), and serve customers via our website, mobile apps, and telephone. Drivers operate as licensed individuals through their local council's PHV regime.
3. Driver vetting
Every driver we dispatch passes the following checks before their first trip — and again annually:
- Enhanced DBS criminal record check (all drivers)
- DVLA license check + endorsement history review
- Council-issued PHV driver license verification
- Group 2 medical fitness standard
- Vehicle MOT + comprehensive insurance verification
- Annual re-verification of all of the above
These checks have two purposes: passenger safety, and a safeguard against forced or coerced labour. A driver presenting documents that don't belong to them, or whose council-issued PHV licence cannot be verified directly with the issuing council, is not dispatched. We treat licence-fraud red flags as a possible modern-slavery indicator and report concerns to the relevant council licensing authority.
4. Supplier checks
Our principal suppliers are:
- Stripe (payments), Google (mapping), Firebase (authentication), Hostinger (email).
- Vehicle dealers and lease providers used by drivers acquiring fleet vehicles.
- Software contractors engaged for product development.
For technology suppliers, we rely on their published modern-slavery statements (all four named above publish their own). For vehicle and contractor relationships, we work with UK-based parties operating under UK employment law, and we ask for confirmation that any staff working on a Fare 1 engagement are properly engaged (employed or self-employed with appropriate documentation).
5. Employee welfare
Any direct employees of Fare 1 Limited are engaged under written contracts, paid at or above the UK Real Living Wage, and are not charged recruitment fees of any kind. Working hours are tracked; overtime is voluntary and paid. We do not retain employees' identity documents.
6. Reporting concerns
Anyone (driver, employee, passenger, or member of the public) who suspects modern slavery in any part of our operation can email hello@fare1.co.uk in confidence, or call the Modern Slavery Helpline on 08000 121 700. Reports to us are reviewed by a director within two working days.
7. Review
This statement is reviewed annually and re-dated when reviewed. The date at the top of this page reflects the most recent review.