Department stores
British department store retailer founded in 1778. Collapsed into administration in 2020. In 2021 fashion retailer Boohoo bought the Debenhams brand and website for 55m GBP, resulting in all the bricks and mortar stores closing and the loss of 12,000 jobs.
Company Ownership
Debenhams plc
UK
boohoo.com plc
owns 100% of Debenhams plc
UK
Online fashion retailer
Started 2006, own brand fashion for women and men in the 16-24 year old market. 24/7 fast fashion with 100 new pieces each day and a new collection every week, selling in over 100 countries. Acquired UK retailer Debenhams and Arcadia brands Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton in 2021 after both companies went into administration. Boohoo bought the brands only, resulting in the loss of thousands of jobs.
Company Assessment
(Last updated Oct 2024)
Praise
Criticism
Information
Debenhams plc
Praise
Criticism
Information
2/5 on Good On You
This company owns brands rated 'Not good enough' by Good On You, whose rating system considers the most important social and environmental issues facing the fashion industry to assess a brand's impact on people, the planet and animals.
Source: Good On You
(2023)
Sustainability claims
This company has sustainability claims on its website under the headings of equality, community and environment.
Source: company website
(2020)
Modern Slavery statement
California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
Source: company website
(2018)
BHRRC company profile
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre digital platform presents news and allegations relating to the human rights impact of over 20,000 companies. Their enhanced Company Dashboards also include financial information, key data points based on corporate policies, and scores from prominent civil society benchmarks. Follow the link and use the search function to view this company's dashboard.
Source: BHRRC
(2022)
boohoo.com plc
Praise
Criticism
Information
International Accord signatory
This company is a signatory to the International Accord for Health and Safety in the Textile & Garment Industry. The International Accord was established in 2021 as the successor to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which was established in 2013 in the wake of the Rana Plaza building collapse that killed more than 1,000 workers and seriously injured thousands more. Company signatories to the International Accord commit to: Disclosing all factories producing for them in countries with International Accord programs; Ensuring all listed factories participate in the inspection, remediation, and safety training programs; Supporting factories to ensure remediation is financially feasible; Contributing to the operational costs of International Accord programs.
Source: International Accord
(2023)
Efforts to pay a living wage
The Clean Clothes Campaign report, Tailored Wages 2019 analyses responses from 32 top clothing brands about their progress in implementing a living wage for the workers who produce their clothes. This company received the lowest possible grade in the report, meaning they produced no evidence that any worker making their clothes was paid a living wage anywhere in the world.
Source: Clean Clothes Campaign
(2019)
Worker exploitation in UK
A 2020 report by Labour Behind the Label reveals how workers in Leicester (UK) making clothes primarily for Boohoo were found to have been paid as little as 3.50 pounds an hour, well below the UK minimum wage of 8.72 pounds for workers aged 25 and over. The company is also accused of blatant intimidation of vulnerable workers, and putting employees at risk of Covid-19 by working with factories which continued to operate during the UK's lockdown.
Source: Labour Behind the Label
(2020)
Supply chain practices in China
The Green Supply Chain Corporate Information Transparency Index (CITI) evaluates consumer-facing companies that have a sizeable supply chain in China. The evaluation uses government supervision data and public information to assess the environmental management of their supply chains in China. This company received a score of 11.02/100 (retrieved 24 Nov 2023).
Source: IPE
(2023)
19/100 in What Fuels Fashion?
What Fuels Fashion? is a single-issue, special edition of the Fashion Transparency Index. The 2024 report ranked 250 of the world's largest fashion brands and retailers according to their level of disclosure on climate and energy-related data in their own operations and supply chains. Brands owned by this company scored 19%. The average score was 18% and the highest score was 75%.
Source: Fashion Revolution
(2024)
No COVID Fashion Commitments
In 2020 Baptist World Aid Australia released The COVID Fashion Report, a special edition of their Ethical Fashion Report. The report is framed around six COVID Fashion Commitments that ask companies to demonstrate the steps and measures they are taking to protect and support the most vulnerable workers in their supply chains. This company showed no evidence of actions that it covered any of the COVID Fashion Commitments.
$197m false sales settlement
In 2023 this company agreed to pay US$197 million to resolve a class action lawsuit challenging false sales. According to the lawsuits, the reference prices were not original, regular, retail or former prices. In reality, the websites' reference prices were intentionally inflated in order to dupe customers into thinking they were getting a good deal, the plaintiffs claim.
Source: Top Class Actions
(2023)
26/100 in Ethical Fashion Report
Baptist World Aid Australia's '2024 Ethical Fashion Report' assessed 120 companies on their efforts to mitigate against the risks of forced labour, child labour and worker exploitation in their supply chains, as well as protect the environment from the harmful impacts of the fashion industry. Assessment criteria fall into five main categories: policy & governance, tracing & risk, auditing and supplier relationships, worker empowerment and environmental sustainability. This company received a score of 26/100. The average score was 31.3 and the highest score was 90.
Misleading advertising
This company has been criticised for irresponsible advertising. In 2019 the UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint about a product listing for a jumper on its website. The jumper was advertised as "faux fur", however testing revealed from the sample was real animal fur, most likely rabbit. The ASA concluded the ad was misleading and breached the Code.
Climate action commitments
As listed on the We Mean Business website, this company has committed to the following climate action initiatives: adopt a science-based emissions reduction target.
Source: We Mean Business
(2021)
Angora ban
This company has taken angora items off the shelves and promised not to use angora again, following a PETA campaign launched in Dec 2013 which revealed the cruelty inflicted on angora rabbits in Chinese factory farms, where 90% of the world's angora is produced.
Source: PETA
(2018)
Use of non-mulesed wool
Brands owned by this company are listed in Human Society International Australia's Better Wool Guide as using 100% non-mulesed wool from a robust certification scheme, or has a time-bound commitment to do so. Mulesing is the controversial practice of removing strips of the skin of a lamb's rear and is often done without pain relief. In Australia, the only country where mulesing still occurs, an estimated 10 million merino lambs are subjected to mulesing each year - equivalent to 19 lambs per minute.
Source: HSI Australia
(2024)
Sustainable Apparel Coalition member
This company is a founding member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, a multi-stakeholder initiative launched in March 2011 by a group of global apparel and footwear companies and non-profit organizations (representing nearly one third of the global market share for apparel and footwear). The Coalition's goals are to reduce the apparel industry's environmental and social impact, and to develop a universal index to measure environmental and social performance of apparel products.
Transparency Pledge
The Apparel and Footwear Supply Chain Transparency Pledge (Transparency Pledge) helps demonstrate apparel and footwear companies' commitment towards greater transparency in their manufacturing supply chain. Transparency of a company's manufacturing supply chain better enables a company to collaborate with civil society in identifying, assessing, and avoiding actual or potential adverse human rights impacts. This is a critical step that strengthens a company's human rights due diligence. This company has published some supplier factory information, but falls short of the Pledge standard.
Source: Transparency Pledge
(2019)
Better Cotton Initiative member
This company is a member of the Better Cotton Initiative, a voluntary program which encourages the adoption of better management practices in cotton cultivation to achieve measurable reductions in key environmental impacts, while improving social and economic benefits for cotton farmers, small and large, worldwide.
Source: Better Cotton Initiative
(2022)
Modern Slavery statement
California, the UK and Australia have all enacted legislation requiring companies operating within their borders to disclose their efforts to eradicate modern slavery from their operations and supply chains. Follow the link to see this company's disclosure statement.
Source: company website
(2018)
BHRRC company profile
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre digital platform presents news and allegations relating to the human rights impact of over 20,000 companies. Their enhanced Company Dashboards also include financial information, key data points based on corporate policies, and scores from prominent civil society benchmarks. Follow the link and use the search function to view this company's dashboard.
Source: BHRRC
(2022)
21/100 in KnowTheChain Benchmark
In 2023 KnowTheChain benchmarked 65 apparel and footwear companies on their efforts to identify and tackle forced labour risks in their supply chains. This company received a score of 21/100. The average score was 21/100 and the highest score was 63/100.
Source: KnowTheChain
(2023)
24/100 in Fashion Transparency Index
The 2023 Fashion Transparency Index reviewed 250 of the world's largest fashion brands and retailers and ranked them according to how much they disclose about their human rights and environmental policies, practices and impacts. Brands owned by this company scored 24%, signifying it is doing a bit more than the others when it comes to having policies and commitments in place and auditing and reporting activities, but could be doing more. The average score was 26% and the highest score was 83%.
Source: Fashion Revolution
(2023)
Company Details
Type:
Wholly-owned subsidiary
Founded:
1778