Leicester has been the most talked about city in England over the past few weeks – and sadly for all wrong reasons.
Ever since Boohoo and Quiz have been accused of getting their clothes made by factories in Leicester that have been accused of violating ethical trading standards, many other fashion retailers are now finding ways to keep away from these factories.
Asos, the British online fashion brand, has now gone ahead and tagged one of its supplier factories in the city as ‘red critical’.
A top management team from the company recently visited one of its supplier factories in Leicester and was disappointed by some of the practices followed in the factory that not only highlighted gaps in management but also put the lives of many workers at risk.
More on this, Nick Beighton, Chief Executive, Asos, said that he would also be visiting the concerned factory tomorrow (17 July), following which a decision would be taken on retailer’s future relationship with the factory.
Asos also stated that it would go through its process of handling such suppliers – a process wherein it will draw a plan to help improve ethical practices in its supplier factories and will regularly visit and check whether they are being followed. The retailer added that it will cut ties with all those factories that will fail to improve.
While mentioning Asos has always been transparent in its practices, Nick said it has measures like providing training to buyers to check whether factory can satisfy all orders without outsourcing to unapproved suppliers in addition to publishing a complete list of factories.
Going forward, Asos has plans to publish regular audit results.
Started in 2000, Asos’ website sells more than 850 brands and generates revenue of £2.573 billion.
