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.

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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.”

Photo credit: Bonmarché, Facebook

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