Boohoo reduces its UK suppliers from 500 to 78
ONLINE fashion giant Boohoo has scaled back the number of UK suppliers it uses after allegations about working conditions for some factory staff.
The fast fashion firm yesterday revealed a list of 78 approved suppliers.
It marks a big drop on the estimated 500 previously identified in an independent review of the business by Alison Levitt QC.
Boohoo has been trying to repair its reputation after claims last year that factory workers at a firm in Leicester making clothes for Boohoo’s Nasty Gal brand were being paid just £3.50 an hour.
The company said the change was about creating more sustainable business practices. It follows moves by Boohoo to sever ties with some factories, consolidate others and cut out subcontracting.
The new list names the UK suppliers it uses for clothing, homeware and beauty products. Most are based in Leicester.
Almost three-quarters employ fewer than 50 workers.
John Lyttle, chief executive of Boohoo, said yesterday the changes were the “beginning of a new way of working with our suppliers.
“We have faced up to the problems of the past and are now driving positive change in the industry.” Publishing a list of UK approved suppliers was one of Levitt’s core recommendations.
In November, Manchester-based Boohoo appointed retired judge Brian Leveson to independently oversee its “Agenda for Change” programme.
In his second report on Boohoo, also published yesterday, Sir Brian said: “It is clear that few, if any, companies undertaking due diligence of their supply chains have gone to the lengths undertaken by Boohoo. And for that it deserves credit.”