Boohoo tells UK Home Secretary it is probing charges of malpractice in supply chain

(Reuters) – Fashion retailer Boohoo Group Plc wrote a letter to UK Home Secretary Priti Patel, saying that the company is taking action to probe allegations of malpractice in its supply chain and that it asks for the government to take action as well.

The company said in the letter that it supported the call by the British Retail Consortium to implement a licensing scheme that would ensure all garment factories are meeting legal obligations to their employees.

“We fully support the proposals of the British Retail Consortium and others on the need to implement statutory licensing of garment factory owners and managers to ensure they are ‘Fit to Trade'”, Boohoo said in the letter, dated July 17.

Boohoo shares fell earlier this month when The Sunday Times reported that workers in a factory in Leicester, central England, who were making clothes destined for Boohoo, were paid as little as 3.50 pounds ($4.40) an hour.

The firm said in response that it would commission an independent review of its supply chain in Britain.

Britain’s minimum wage is 8.72 pounds for people over 25 years old and 8.20 pounds for people aged 21 to 24.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; editing by Edward Tobin)