The co-founders of fast-fashion giant Boohoo have bought another £15m worth of shares in a bid to stop the share price from falling any further.

Mahmud Kamani ploughed £10.7m into 5 million shares, while Carol Kane spent £4.3m on Boohoo stock on Thursday, in an attempt to rebuild confidence in the embattled business following the allegations of malpractice in its textile supply chain.

The joint efforts of Kamani and Kane appeared to have succeeded, with Boohoo’s share price rising 12%, having seen a near 50% collapse since allegations of issues in a Leicester supplier’s factory first appeared in The Sunday Times.

In response, Boohoo faced heavy criticism and a number of investors, including Aberdeen Standard Investments, pulled funding from ethical funds.

Yesterday, the chair of the environmental audit committee, Philip Dunne, criticised Boohoo for failing to address warnings of malpractice at Leicester textile factories going back to at least 2018.

“It is incredible that over a year since the committee highlighted illegal working practices in its supply chain, Boohoo has publicly denied any knowledge of what has been happening for years,” he said.

Boohoo claimed it had been “shocked and appalled” by the revelations and has pledged to conduct an independent audit into its supply chain and to invest £10m into improving practices.

Topics