A major fashion chain which has been embroiled in controversial allegations around mistreatment of their staff have now announced plans to set up their own “model factory” to ensure workers are treated fairly.
According to The Guardian, Boohoo has bought a 1 hectare (2.5 acre) former car showroom in Leicester and will be transforming it into the new factory. The report stated that if the factory is not up and running by September, Boohoo will lease a temporary site in Leicester. In the meantime, the company is reportedly looking at opening another factory elsewhere in the UK.
According to the co-founder Mahmud Kamani, the company will employ 250 people at the new Leicester factory and is expected to start producing clothes for its PrettyLittleThing and Nasty Gal brands by September.
There were several media reports which alleged that the workers were under-paid below their minimum wages, worked in unsanitary conditions without wearing protective masks to help stall the spread of Covid-19. Recently, there were unfounded claims that an outbreak in Covid-19 cases in Leicester was lined to the city’s garment district factories. In a statement to The Guardian, John Lyttle said,
“We terminated two suppliers as previously announced because of documentation issues which breached our code of conduct. No evidence of [paying as little as] £3.50 per hour was found. Meanwhile the independent review will proceed at pace and if evidence of payment below minimum wage is found within any of our suppliers we would terminate those relationships.”
The company had formally launched an independent review of its UK supply chain led by Alison Levitt QC and axed two suppliers, Morefray and Revolution Clothing. Boohoo is expected to give an update on the review, including its terms of reference, this week. They have also hired an independent factory auditor, Verisio, which started conducting unannounced spot checks at the fashion firm’s UK suppliers and their subcontractors in May. Since the scandal, the auditor has been visiting the factories to ensure workers are given details of a confidential whistleblower hotline operated by Verisio.
Priti Patel, the home secretary, described the alleged working practices as “truly appalling”, and called on the National Crime Agency (NCA) to investigate.
Boohoo has previously said it was “shocked and appalled by the recent allegations” and vowed to work to rebuild the reputation of textile manufacturing in Leicester. It buys 40% of its clothing in the UK, mostly in Leicester, with the rest coming from other countries such as Turkey, Morocco, China, Bangladesh and India.
