(Alliance News) - Aberdeen Standard Investments has sold most of its shareholding in online clothing retailer Boohoo Group PLC over allegations of poor working conditions in its supply chain, the Times newspaper reported Friday.
According to the newspaper, asset manager Aberdeen Standard Investments has sold 27 million shares, equivalent to two-thirds of its stake.
The Sunday Times newspaper reported allegations that workers in Leicester's Jaswal Fashions factory making clothes for Boohoo brand Nasty Gal were being paid as little as GBP3.50 an hour and operating without social distancing measures in place.
Boohoo, in response, on Wednesday last week again had distanced itself from Jaswal Fashions and had said that while it has seen "non-compliance" with its code of conduct, it has not seen evidence of its suppliers paying workers GBP3.50 per hour. It also had launched an independent review of its UK supply chain.
"Having spoken to Boohoo's management team a number of times this week in light of recent concerning allegations, we view their response as inadequate in scope, timeliness and gravity," Lesley Duncan, deputy head of UK Equities at Aberdeen Standard Investments, told the Times newspaper.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/aberdeen-standard-investments-sells-stake-in-boohoo-amid-factory-pay-row-xzjrksskc
By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com
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