Fashion giant Boohoo has been accused of breaking promises to make its clothing fairly and ethically as new evidence has emerged of staff at the fashion giant “pressuring suppliers to drive prices down”, even after orders had been agreed.
The news comes as part of a BBC Panorama investigation in which an undercover reporter, who was working as an administrative assistant at the company’s Manchester HQ, reported evidence of staff pressuring suppliers for discounts.
Boohoo pledged to overhaul its practices and relationships with suppliers in 2020 with its ‘Agenda for Change’ programme after it initially came under fire regarding allegations of poor working conditions, underpayment and exploitation in its supply chain. Senior barrister Alison Levitt KC found the allegations to be “substantially true”.
Despite this, BBC reporter Emma Lowther reported that the promises were “consistently undermined” during her 10 weeks undercover.
The Panorama investigation also shows that pressure to cut prices came from the top of the company, with chief executive Mahmud Kamani not allowing buyers to confirm any new orders until he had approved them.
When asked about the conversations he has with suppliers, Kamani said: “Not good for them, okay for me.”
Lowther said she was told to process a 5% cut on more than 400 orders that had already been agreed, saving the fashion giant thousands of pounds.
She also reported that one supplier was “furious” about a 10% discount being applied that had not been agreed and asked for the discount to be removed “urgently”.
Boohoo told the BBC it had experienced “significant cost inflation” during the past year, which it had “absorbed in order to maintain affordable prices for customers”.
The investigation also explores how orders placed through Boohoo’s Thurmaston Lane, Leicester, factory were being made by seven factories in Morocco and four in Leicester, despite Thurmaston Lane being opened in January last year as part of Boohoo’s “ethical overhaul”.
When it opened, the Leicester factory was promoted as a “manufacturing centre of excellence offering end-to-end garment production in the UK”. Boohoo’s lawyers confirmed Thurmaston Lane “only makes 1% of all Boohoo’s garments”.
The report also includes secret filming at one of Boohoo’s supplier factories, MM Leicester Clothing Ltd, which shows staff being told they “may need to work late into the night” with only a few hours’ notice, in order to complete Boohoo’s order requests.
In the footage, a worker tells managers they need to go home to feed their families and receives the response: “No one is leaving at eight, or 10, or later.”
Boohoo suppliers reportedly have to sign up to a code of conduct confirming overtime should be voluntary rather than compulsory.
MM Leicester told the BBC its normal working hours are from 8am until 6pm and it “never forces workers to stay late”.
A Boohoo spokesperson told the BBC: “We take any breach of our supplier code of conduct extremely seriously and are currently investigating Panorama’s claims.”
It also said it has invested “significant time, effort and resource into driving positive change across every aspect of its business and supply chain”.
The undercover reporter was sacked after 10 weeks of working at the fashion giant after making mistakes that “cost the company money”.
The Panorama investigation airs on November 6 at 8pm on BBC One.
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