"Payment still eludes Bangladeshi apparel suppliers of Bestseller, Arcadia, Matalan, New Look", 13 November 2020

As the global coronavirus pandemic was starting to take root... Bangladesh’s garment exporters were entering into panic mode: their Western buyers were cancelling orders or deferring shipments as much of the world was going on lockdown to flatten the curve on the rogue virus...

[A] study by... Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) [revealed] the names of the offending brands...

Danish Bestseller... and German C&A have emerged as worst offenders: they have asked their suppliers for an extension of 120 days to make payment for orders, have sought for retrospective discounts and have not committed to paying for orders that were in-production or completed when the pandemic began, according to the study. What’s worse, Bestseller has recorded profits since the pandemic. As per their buying policy, they make payments within 40 days of the date of invoice.

... Arcadia Group, which has brands like Burton, Topshop, Topman... is not far behind the two...

Dhaka Tribune traced the Bangladeshi suppliers of Bestseller, C&A and Arcadia and the majority declined to go on record for the report for fear of reprisal from the buyers... all suppliers of Arcadia contacted by Dhaka Tribune said they are yet to receive the full payment for shipments made months ago... Meanwhile, Arcadia is placing work orders to new suppliers...