Labour Behind The Label

 8.11.10

Campaign Group Labour Behind the Label tonight express shock but not surprise at the UK sweatshop charges brought against high street retailer Arcadia Group among others. Such revelations confirm claims that the company is simply not doing enough to ensure workers producing their goods are doing so in decent conditions.

Extract from The Independent, By Martin Hickman, 8.11.10

Clothing on sale in the high street is being made in Britain in dirty, dangerous and “appalling” conditions, according to secret television footage which will intensify pressure on a fashion industry hit by a series of sweatshop scandals.

Arcadia is the UK's second biggest garment retailer after Marks and Spencer, and its biggest women's wear retailer. In 2004 it owned seven high street labels: Dorothy Perkins, Burton, Top Man and Top Shop, Wallis, Evans and Miss Selfridge, whose products are available in more than 2000 UK outlets as well as international stores in another 20 countries. Arcadia Group employs 25000 workers. In 2003, Arcadia Group almost doubled its profits from £116 to £228 millions, which is estimated to have added £1 billion to the personal fortune of owner Philip Green. Philip Green, who also owns British Home Stores, is famed for his ability to source goods more cheaply and squeeze prices to suppliers harder than most of his competitors. Such practices, however, are responsible for the increasingly precarious lives of garment workers all over the world, and are unlikely to be compatible with Arcadia's claim to take its supply chain responsibilities seriously.  This briefing was produced by Labour Behind the Label in 2004.