Corporate spy firm tries to clean up ‘James Bond’ industry’s image July 29, 2020 Technology firm Ground Truth Intelligence (GTI) has today launched its ethical investigations platform in London, as the company seeks to shake-up the corporate intelligence industry following high-profile scandals involving companies such as Lekoil and Credit Suisse. The London-headquartered firm is set to provide an “alternative approach” to the global intelligence and investigations industry, offering ethical [...]
UK tax rises: How will Rishi Sunak pay down the coronavirus deficit? July 28, 2020 Rishi Sunak’s first five months as chancellor has seen him shower the UK economy with hundreds of billions of pounds, helping make him the most popular government figure. However, talk has already turned to the ballooning deficit – predicted to be around £350bn this year – and how to reduce it to more manageable levels. [...]
Social licence: How financial markets can switch focus and help solve humanity’s greatest challenges July 21, 2020 If there was ever any question as to whether we value human life more than money, the coronavirus pandemic has surely answered it. The protection of ordinary people, in this country and indeed in almost every country in the world, has come at an extraordinary economic cost. Yet only a minority of people have dared [...]
The Boohoo scandal shouldn’t shock anyone — modern slavery is a pandemic July 21, 2020 No brand today should be “shocked and appalled” at what happens in its own supply chain, as fast fashion brand Boohoo recently claimed to be. To know so little about the sourcing, processes and practices involved in creating a product you sell should be a crime itself. Tales of UK-based sweat shops and modern slavery [...]
Fast fashion firms Asos and Missguided call for action on UK worker exploitation July 20, 2020 Fast fashion retailers Asos and Missguided have called for urgent government action over the exploitation at UK clothing factories, after rival e-commerce firm Boohoo was embroiled in a scandal over the treatment of workers in Leicester. In a letter to home secretary Priti Patel, a group of retailers, MPs and investors, including Allianz Global Investors, [...]
Boohoo shares continue downward spiral amid sales slump warnings July 14, 2020 Boohoo shares continued to slump this morning after more than three days of losses, following allegations of poor working conditions in the fast fashion firm’s garment factories that have weighed on analysts’ sales forecasts. Shares slumped 17.7 per cent to 230p yesterday, after hovering around the 410p mark for the majority of June. Investors continued [...]
Businesses must find their purpose, or risk becoming the next corporate scandal July 14, 2020 In the midst of a pandemic, the corporate scandals keep coming. The most recent is Boohoo, a previously admired brand in the fashion industry that has been accused of sourcing clothes from a Leicester factory where workers were paid as little as £3.50 an hour. For many in the fashion industry, the darker side of [...]
The City View: Miles Roberts on the packaging business July 13, 2020 Subscribe to The City View Podcast: Apple / Google / Spotify / RSS In today’s episode – the first recorded from City AM’s offices – Andy is joined by Miles Roberts, CEO of FTSE-100 packaging firm DS Smith. Miles and Andy discuss the impact of lockdown on packaging, what innovation looks like when it comes to cardboard, and post-Brexit goods regimes. They [...]
Boohoo shares plunge as major shareholder dumps stock July 13, 2020 Boohoo shares continued last week’s downturn this morning, slumping as much as 15.4 per cent as the decision by one of the fast fashion retailer’s biggest shareholders to dump the majority of its stock continued to spook investors. Standard Life Aberdeen (SLA), the UK’s largest listed asset manager, on Friday sold off shares in the [...]
Quiz suspends supplier after Leicester factory exploitation claims July 13, 2020 Fashion brand Quiz has suspended one of its suppliers after reports that the supplier was failing to pay workers at a factory in Leicester the minimum wage. Over the weekend, an investigation by the Times found that the supplier had offered employees just £3 an hour to make clothes for the brand. The minimum wage [...]