{"id":3526,"date":"2009-01-22T12:00:40","date_gmt":"2009-01-22T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/?p=3526"},"modified":"2021-01-05T15:09:18","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T14:09:18","slug":"primarks-sweatshops-the-future-of-sustainability-assurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.corporate-eye.com\/main\/primarks-sweatshops-the-future-of-sustainability-assurance\/","title":{"rendered":"Primark’s Sweatshops: The Future of Sustainability Assurance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PrimarkThink of great classic combinations: Fred and Ginger<\/a>; Sonny and Cher<\/a>; Laurel and Hardy<\/a>. “The BBC<\/a> and Primark<\/a>” could soon be added to this list.<\/p>\n

Last summer the BBC exposed how some of Primark\u2019s fashion clothing range came from Far East sweatshops<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now the BBC has done it again<\/a>, this time showing that Primark\u2019s continues to engage suppliers who use unsustainable employment practices.<\/p>\n

Reaction to the news will been varied. Fashionistas may shake their heads sadly and say that the cheap, ethical fashion Primark which claims to sell simply cannot exist.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, political deep-reds may get all agitated, saying corporations simply cannot be trusted. Both are, to some extent, correct.<\/p>\n

Sustainable Company Flouts Minimum Wage<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s accepted that the price of cheap goods in the West is often subsidised by exploitative and unsustainable employment practices. Improving those practices will undoubtedly lead to rising prices.<\/p>\n

That these Primark sweatshops were in the UK not the Far East which is a great worry and the BBC investigation exposed that the supplier (TNS Knitware) was paying only two-thirds of the National Minimum Wage<\/a> (\u00a35.73 \/ $8 per hour).<\/p>\n

The revelation is doubly embarrassing as 2008 saw Primark overtake George At Asda<\/a> as the UK\u2019s leading value fashion retailer<\/a>. They will not like the insinuation that this success is based upon double standards.<\/p>\n

Leading Companies Can’t Get Sustainability Assurance Right<\/strong>
\nOne important fact is that Primark is not a small niche company but part of Associated British Food <\/a>(ABF), a FTSE100<\/a> company. Other brands owned by the company include Ryvita<\/a>, Ovaltine<\/a> and Twinings<\/a>, all of which are deeply embedded in the British psyche.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, Primark didn\u2019t really do anything wrong. They used an external ethical standard (the Ethical Trading Initiative<\/a>) to ensure their principles remained unsullied by commercial interests.<\/p>\n

They also used the independent auditors The Reassurance Network<\/a> who have been acknowledged as a market leader in the Corporate Responsibility Assurance, according to the first survey of its kind<\/a> undertaken by Verdantix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Reassurance Network
\nHomepage<\/a><\/div>\n

Is Independent Sustainability Assurance The Solution?<\/strong>
\nBizarrely, this may be precisely where the problem lies.<\/p>\n

Independent auditing is widely recognised as a keystone in providing good quality assurance. However Corporate Responsibility Assurance is a very new field and like all the companies involved in the sector are still finding their way in it.<\/p>\n

For instance, and with the benefit of 20\/20 hindsight, a few facts spring out from Primark\u2019s December 2008 audit of TNS Knitwear<\/a>:<\/p>\n