EWM owner Day accused of taking ‘undue advantage’ of clothing workers

Around 30 suppliers to Day’s clothing empire, which includes brands such as Peacocks, Austin Reed and Jaeger, have written to Edinburgh Woollen Mill threatening to halt production and deliveries over £27m in unpaid bills.

The letter was sent from the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association trade body and claimed that Day and his fashion group had taken “undue advantage of the Covid-19 situation”, according to The Guardian.

Day’s retail group is accused of demanding “hefty discounts” from struggling suppliers, cancelling orders and withholding payment for goods already shipped or made.

The letter demands payment for goods already shipped by May 29 and for orders made up to June 5 that are already in production and threatens legal action of any discount request “beyond permissible limits”.

“The demand for the discounts will not only be financially catastrophic, but will also expose our members to various claims and liabilities from regulations, banks and other third parties, which will eventually legally implicate the buyers themselves,” the letter said.

“We will have no option but to take the decision to place an embargo and blacklist the buyers and their agents who do not comply with our instructions, which will prevent them from conducting business with our members in the future either directly or indirectly.”

A spokesman for EWM Group said the group had not received the letter before the story was published and claimed it had already paid for much of the stock in question. 

“We only received the letter from the BGMEA today and we are disappointed it has been shared more widely before we have had the chance to respond, consider the proposals and work together to find a solution.

“When this global crisis hit, we had already paid for the majority of future stock and we have since had productive discussions with individual suppliers about remaining stock. We have engaged with all our individual suppliers with openness, honesty and the best of intentions, even when the circumstances are difficult.

“We have looked at literally every option on the table and worked hand in hand with all our suppliers to find solutions, but we also need to recognise that these are difficult and complicated issues.

“There are not simple problems and every potential quick solution has long-term implications. If we took delivery of remaining unmade stock for the spring season with all our stores closed, this stock would only be stored for next year and depress 2021 orders.”