Boohoo comes to Northants - but can the company repair its reputation?

As the online clothes retailer begins recruiting in Northants we look at how the scandal-hit company is trying to recover from recent bad headlines

By Natalie Bloomer

Boohoo has begun to advertise vacancies at its new distribution centre in Wellingborough which is due to open shortly. The firm, which is hoping to create up to 1,000 jobs for people in Northamptonshire, has seen a surge in trade in recent years but it has also been hit by scandal.

In 2010 the Channel 4 current affairs programme Dispatches exposed poor working conditions at factories in Leicester. Seven years later the programme returned to the city and uncovered accusations of underpaid workers and unsafe conditions at factories which were making clothes for Boohoo and other fashion retailers. In response Boohoo told the programme they had a ‘demanding set of policies for suppliers’ and would carry out ‘regular unannounced audits’. They also said they wanted to assist their suppliers in raising the standard of their safety procedures and ensure they pay at least the minimum wage.

Yet last summer the company was back in the headlines after an investigation by the Sunda…