CHALLENGES remain at Boohoo’s supply chain, a review following allegations of ill treatment towards staff in Leicester revealed today.

Retired judge Sir Brian Leveson was appointed to provide oversight for the fast fashion giant’s Agenda For Change programme in late 2020 after Alison Levitt QC found that there were “serious issues” in the company’s supply chain.

Today, the retail group published Sir Brian’s final report, which said that some areas are still a “work in progress” but highlighted significant improvements across Boohoo operations.

Sir Brian said in the report: “I do not pretend that the conclusion of the Agenda For Change programme and its transfer into ‘business as usual’ represents the completion of each aspect of each recommendation made in the review.

“Many have been completed; others are in progress but still require continued effort to bring to fruition.

“Even if all the recommendations had been completed — or when they are — it cannot be said that it would represent the end of the process.

“I have no doubt that there will continue to be challenges and difficulties along the way.

“Boohoo must be prepared to demonstrate that, in relation to each aspect of its business, it has exercised due diligence to ensure that legal and ethical standards have been maintained by all — both in the business itself or, just as important, in its supply chain.”

Following the review, Boohoo’s suppliers will now require independent approval on their sourcing and ethical compliance, the company said.

Claudia Webbe MP for Leicester East told the Star: “Today’s findings demonstrate that, Boohoo still has far to go if it is to rid itself of exploitation within its Leicester supply chain.

“Indeed, it is puzzling that Sir Levinson’s report concluded that Boohoo has both met the targets of its agenda for change to improve working conditions, and yet challenges and difficulties still remain regarding the company’s record on workers’ rights. This suggests that Boohoo’s agenda for change may have been inadequate to protect workers in Leicester.

"Sir Levinson appears to have implied as much in his conclusion that ‘even if all the recommendations had been completed (or when they are), it cannot be said that it would represent the end of the process’ for Boohoo’s reform'.

“Exploitation has not disappeared from Leicester’s garment industry. I am constantly approached by workers who are experiencing an insidious array of exploitative practices. Dodgy zero-hours-contracts are commonplace, and sweatshops routinely under-report hours.

"Some companies also defraud their workers of holiday leave through a bogus probationary period that prevent workers from taking leave for a year or longer.

“Many appalling garment industry contracts prohibit workers from unionising; require eight weeks of notice whilst giving workers only two days’ notice of employment termination; offer insulting overtime pay of 10 pence, poor or no sick pay, offer no recourse to inadequate and dangerous working conditions; and mandate that workers opt out of the Work Time Regulations of 1988 that limit working weeks to 48 hours.

“It is nauseating that Boohoo has previously blamed its declining share price on higher costs in its supply chain and increased wages for its workers. This seems to affirm what many have long suspected; that Boohoo’s eye-watering profits were reliant on unscrupulous employers, unaccountable supply chains and the exploited labour of Leicester residents.

“Billionaires and excessive corporate profits exist because of the exploitation of the working class. We must end this rigged economic system, in which companies that exploit workers are rewarded with ever-increasing revenues.”