Can only go up24 Jul 2020 10:57
Boohoo has tried to add some clarity to the situation. It said the company subject to media reports was not a ‘direct supplier’, meaning it was a company that was used by one of its own suppliers. It said the garments were not made in the UK but in Morocco, and were simply being repackaged in Leicester so they could be sold in the UK. It also said that its ‘investigation to date has not found evidence of suppliers paying workers £3.50 per hour’.
Those claims have, so far, held up. No less than seven different UK authorities – ranging from anti-slavery and immigration to the police and the council – found no foul play in their initial round of investigations, but we can expect more surprise inspections going forward.
Plus, it has already attracted the attention of politicians, who have pledged to clean up Leicester’s garment industry, where concerns over conditions have been rife for years. Home secretary Priti Patel said the claims were ‘truly appalling’ and said the government was committed to stamping out malpractice.
Boohoo said it would not hesitate to end its relationships with any suppliers that were not meeting its code of conduct, and that this ‘includes very clear expectations on transparency about second tier suppliers.’
It has launched an independent review of its UK supply chain which will be led by Alison Levitt QC and committed £10 million to ‘eradicate supply chain malpractice’. It has also accelerated its review of its third-party supply chain and its ethical audit.