Category Archives: Primark

Primark owner upgrades profit outlook as inflation fuels jump in sales revenue

Posted on by

Associated British Foods says group sales rose by 16% with Primark saying rises supported by steeper prices

The owner of Primark and food brands including Twinings has upgraded its profit forecast for this year as sales revenue jumped thanks to inflation-fuelled price increases and as shoppers bought summer clothes.

Associated British Foods, which also owns brands including Ovaltine as well as a sugar business, said that group sales rose by 16% to £4.7bn in the three months to 27 May. Sales at Primark were up by 13% to nearly £2bn.

Continue reading...

Primark enjoys bumper festive UK sales thanks to heels and baggy suits

Posted on by

Owner ABF says its grocery brands such as Twinings and Kingsmill also increased trading

Strong sales of heels, baggy suits and knitwear propelled Primark’s sales ahead of expectations over Christmas as shoppers returned to city centres and consumer spending was more resilient than anticipated.

Sales at the cut-price fashion chain’s established stores rose by 11% in the four months to 17 January, compared with the same period a year before, as the owner, Associated British Foods (ABF), said it had sold more items of clothing while prices had also risen by about 8%.

Continue reading...

Primark to trial UK click and collect in move into online sales

Posted on by

Customers will be able to order from about 2,000 items online, including children’s clothes

Primark will trial a click-and-collect service in the UK, in the budget fashion chain’s first significant move into online shopping.

The high street retailer will launch the trial at 25 stores in the north-west of England by the end of the year, but said it would only cover children’s clothing and accessories, as the company – owned by Associated British Foods (ABF) – tries to draw more families into its stores.

Continue reading...

‘Wage theft’ in Primark, Nike and H&M supply chain – report

Posted on by

No laws were broken but brands failed to ensure workers were paid properly during the pandemic, says Clean Clothes Campaign

Campaigners claim to have found evidence of “wage theft” in the supply chains of Primark, Nike and H&M in a report that outlines the devastating consequences of the pandemic on garment workers in Indonesia, Cambodia and Bangladesh.

Research by the Clean Clothes Campaign found that, while none of the brands had broken any laws, they had failed to ensure that their workers were properly paid throughout the pandemic.

Continue reading...

Primark supplier reportedly locks workers in factory to stop their anti-coup protest in Myanmar

Posted on by

Garment workers in Yangon say they were dismissed for breaking out to take part in civil disobedience movement

Garment workers in Myanmar who produce clothing for Primark were locked inside their factory by supervisors who tried to prevent them from joining anti-coup protests, testimonies given to the Guardian claim.

Workers employed by GY Sen, which supplies Primark, claimed to the Guardian that their supervisors had sought to prevent them from missing work to take part in protests in the main city Yangon on 18 February. Up to 1,000 workers were trapped inside, according to workers, who said they were able to break free after several hours.

Continue reading...

Nightmare before Christmas: M&S set for big loss on Covid-hit high street

Posted on by

Its Ocado tie-up may bring Marks festive joy, but as restrictions and uncertainty bite, even Primark looks less than cheerful

The next two months are supposed to be the most lucrative time of the year for the high street, but a grisly update from Marks & Spencer will this week provide a grim reality check as the pandemic sets up nightmarish trading conditions for the golden quarter.

Analysts expect M&S to have made a loss of about £60m in the first six months of its financial year because of the huge sales hit suffered by its clothing arm during the three-month spring lockdown. This time last year, the UK’s biggest clothing retailer was reporting profits of £176m.

Continue reading...

The fashion industry echoes colonialism – DfID’s scheme will subsidise it | Meg Lewis

Posted on by

Covid-19 has exposed the fragility of supply chains, which rely on the labour of black and brown workers. The deep inequalities won’t be fixed by injecting funds at the top

Is the UK governed by parliamentary democracy or big businesses? It is a question that should concern us all, yet it is becoming increasingly hard to differentiate between the two, as the government hands out multimillion-pound contracts to private firms with dubious track records, and ministers revolve between roles at big banks and government. Last week, the line between UK aid and private businesses was called into question, as the Department for International Development (DfID) announced the decision to direct £4.85m of taxpayers’ money towards the work of large retailers including M&S, Tesco and Primark.

The DfID funding is intended to support large companies to fix vulnerable supply chains and ensure that “people in Britain can continue to buy affordable, high-quality goods from around the world”. These aims, along with the fact that UK brands have been entrusted to deliver them, set off alarm bells for labour rights campaigners like myself, who advocate for better working conditions in the global garment industry.

Continue reading...

Covid led to ‘brutal crackdown’ on garment workers’ rights, says report

Posted on by

Brands including Primark, Zara and H&M accused of failing to protect workers at factories in Asia from ‘union busting’

Some of Europe’s biggest retailers, including Primark, Zara and H&M, are failing to stop Covid-19 being used as a pretext for union busting, human rights activists are warning.

Millions of garment workers in some of the poorest parts of Asia have lost their jobs since coronavirus shutdowns hit the retail industry worldwide.

Continue reading...

Primark announces wage fund for garment workers

Posted on by

Pledge comes in response to claims that order cancellations to minimise Covid-19 losses have hurt millions of workers in the developing world

Primark, one of the UK’s most popular retailers, has announced it will create a fund to help pay the wages of the millions of garment workers affected by its decision to cancel tens of millions of pounds worth of clothing orders from factories in developing countries across the world.

The pledge followed sustained criticism of the fashion retailer after data from the Bangladeshi and Garment Exporters Association (BGMEA) revealed it had cancelled all orders already placed with suppliers.

Continue reading...