Edinburgh Woollen Mill hits back at BGMEA's blacklist threat

Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group (EWM) has responded to a threat by the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to blacklist the company over its supplier negotiations.

In a letter sent last week by BGMEA to EMW, the association said that EMW should stop seeking discounts with suppliers and must pay due payments by 29 May or risk being placed on a blacklist.

EMW, which owns brands Bonmarche, Peacocks and Jaeger, has called BGMEA’s approach “unproductive” and “uncollaborative”, and claiming that the organisation did not verify the progress EMW had made prior to publishing the letter.

The company said it has paid for the majority of future stock when the crisis hit originally and has reached deals with the very vast majority of suppliers on all outstanding stock.

It said that it still has discussions with a “handful” of suppliers left and that talks overall have been “positive and constructive”.

“Nobody planned this international crisis, and it is only by working together constructively that we will be able to tackle a challenge as unprecedented as coronavirus,” an EMW spokesperson said. “Our discussions with the vast majority of suppliers have been positive, and they have understood that we are trying to find a balanced way forward that matches the immediate, urgent challenges faced by high-street stores nationally and those of suppliers.

“We are left with a very bitter taste in our mouth over the sincerity of this letter. We think their approach has been unproductive and uncollaborative. This is the first time we have heard from the BGMEA, and we question why they have not tried to engage us with constructively over the last few months nor tried to confirm the facts about our discussions with suppliers before sending this letter - something that we would have actively welcomed.”

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