UK clothing retailer sued over dues

Four local garment exporters have filed a case against British clothing retailer Edinburgh Woolen Mill (EWM) claiming Tk 5.98 crore in payments for goods they had shipped.

"We have filed the case with the lower court in Dhaka on March 14," lawyer Mohammad Shah Poran, who is representing the four, told The Daily Star over the phone yesterday.

"…the company did not pay the local suppliers although it had generated profits through its sister companies," he said.

Poran also said nearly 30 local garment manufacturers shipped goods to the EWM before and at the height of the pandemic in 2020 but the company did not pay for it.

The EWM had also cancelled work orders placed in Bangladesh worth $8.2 million due to the Covid-19 outbreak, according to the BGMEA.

These had prompted the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to send a letter to British billionaire Philip Day, owner of the Carlisle-based retailer specialising in clothing, in May 2020.

The BGMEA, alongside the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, through the letter sought to know the reason behind the hold-up in payments.

Receiving no response, the BGMEA had threatened to blacklist the EWM alongside its affiliates and third parties such as agents, importers and full service vendors which directly or indirectly conducted business with them all.

The affiliates include brands and retailers Peacock, Jaeger, Austin Reed, Jacque Vert, Country Casuals, Windsmoor, Baumler of Germany, Bonmarche and Ponden Home.

At the peak of the pandemic, work orders worth $3.18 billion were either cancelled or put on hold by international retailers and brands but later more than 90 per cent was reinstated as the situation improved.

Many buyers had also sought payment of dues to be deferred.