Boohoo to sell factory after confirming closure

Boohoo is to sell its first-ever manufacturing site after confirming it had ceased operations.

The fashion firm opened a factory in Thurmaston Lane, Leicester, in 2022 with plans for it also to be used as a training facility.

However the company said, in January, it was consulting staff over the potential closure and has now confirmed it shut later that month.

Staff have been redeployed or made redundant, Boohoo said.

The firm declined to say how many jobs had been lost but said "fewer than 100 staff had been impacted" by the closure.

Boohoo previously said it was re-assessing the future of the Leicester sites "following significant investments at our Sheffield distribution centre and the opening of a new distribution centre in the US".

It said it had had to take steps to ensure it was "a more efficient, productive and strengthened business".

Scott Knowles, the chief executive of the East Midlands Chamber, said: "Leicester is renowned for the strength of its textiles and clothing manufacturing.

"It is regrettable when companies cease operations locally and jobs are lost.

"What is important is that skills remain in the city and those affected employees can find work elsewhere.

"We will do what we can to help with that."

Leicester mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: "While Boohoo has a particularly high profile only a very small proportion of it products were manufactured in Leicester.

"They wanted to open in Leicester as a symbolic gesture following some well-documented difficulties here.

"It is unfortunate when jobs are lost but the city has a large textile industry and I'm confident work will be available for those who have been affected."

Boohoo has said the Leicester closure was not related to a BBC Panorama investigation, in 2023, in which a reporter at the firm's headquarters in Manchester saw evidence of staff pressuring suppliers to drive prices down, even after deals had been agreed.

The company had faced allegations over poor pay and supply chain failings in Leicester prior to the opening of the factory.

At the time, Boohoo said it was "committed to the city of Leicester and ethical British manufacturing".

In 2020, Boohoo pledged to overhaul its practices after claims it had tolerated widespread abuses of employment law at some of its suppliers in Leicester.

An independent review of the claims, by Alison Levitt QC, found a series of failings.

The review concluded that although Boohoo did not intentionally profit from the poor working practices, the firm's monitoring of these factories was "inadequate".

Boohoo confirmed to the BBC its site in Leicester had been sold.

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