Boohoo’s founder is facing a shareholder revolt over her role in the sweatshop scandal in the Leicester supply chain.
Shareholder advisory Glass Lewis has urged City investors to sack Carol Kane from the board saying she had a ‘direct role’ in the ‘inadequate governance practices’.
A report published last year found workers doing ‘excessive’ hours in life-threatening conditions, often on illegal low pay, across much of its UK supply chain.
Under pressure: Shareholder advisory Glass Lewis has urged City investors to sack Carol Kane (pictured) from the board
No senior director has lost their job over the failures, and Kane (pictured) and co-founder Mahmud Kamani are still eligible for a £50m bonus if Boohoo’s market capitalisation hits £7.5billion by June 2023.
Glass Lewis said ‘senior directors were aware of the serious issues regarding the treatment of Leicester factory workers for at least six months before the scandal broke’, but ‘did not move quickly enough to remedy the situation’.
The group is advising shareholders to vote against Kane’s re-election at the annual general meeting on June 18.
Boohoo has taken steps to win back investors’ confidence in its supply chain.
But Glass Lewis has also pushed investors to reject the pay report, citing the ‘potential for excessive payouts’.
Last year 34 per cent of shareholders voted against the company’s pay report.
Boohoo hopes a pledge to link executive bonuses to environmental, social and governance (ESG) improvements will limit the revolt.
Yesterday Boohoo’s shares fell 0.3 per cent, or 1p, to 319.3p, well below the pre-scandal price of 400p, reflecting investors’ ongoing worries about the sweatshop scandal.
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