Ted Baker’s share price slides further in wake of ‘forced hugging’ complaints

Ted Baker's share price slumped more than 10 per cent in trading this morning as the City continued to digest the news of harassment allegations surrounding the luxury retail firm’s boss.

Shares dipped almost 11 per cent to 1,387p today, having dived 15 per cent yesterday.

Yesterday the FTSE 250 firm’s board said it had launched a “thorough and urgent” external investigation into the business and its chief executive, Ray Kelvin, who also founded the company.

A spokesperson for the company told City A.M. the company could not comment on a timeline currently, and confirmed Kelvin would remain in his role during the probe.

It is due to give a trading update on Thursday.

The petition, which claims to represent 200 staff and has 2,500 signatures, says there are 50 recorded incidents of harassment at the company, which it claims have been disregarded by its human resources department.

It alleges that Kelvin regularly makes sexual innuendos, and has asked young female staff members to sit on his knee or let him massage their ears.

“[Kelvin] tries to massage people around the office, insists on long hugs with staff members, touches them inappropriately and openly asks his staff for sex,” the petition says.

“The general feeling inside Ted Baker is that there’s no official way to address the issue of harassment,” it added. “That's why we're running this campaign.”

In a statement over the weekend, the firm said it has “very clear and robust HR policies in place”. It said hugs are “part of Ted Baker’s culture, but are absolutely not insisted upon”.