So, Primark have been caught out again. This time, the BBC has found that they have been taking advantage of workers at a factory in Manchester. You can read the full story at the BBC. Essentially, it was one of their suppliers that was found wanting.

Supplier TNS Knitwear was also found to be employing illegal workers in poor conditions making clothes destined for fashion chain Primark. The employees had to work up to 12 hours a day for £3.50 an hour – well below the UK Minimum Wage.

Primark was found wanting last year and put safeguards into place to make sure that their suppliers were treating their workers properly. Indeed, Primark had TNS independently audited on 28 April and 10 December 2008. Being from a financial background I find this very interesting because there have been instances where auditors have been paid to do a job in the pat but failed to find underlying problems. This has happened in all sorts of circumstances, such as when one company buys another and wants to know if there are any difficulties at the firm they are buying.

It could be that the it is the auditing that is really the story here. We will have to see.  In the meantime, we should pay attention to Neil Kearney, of the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation. He said that said the investigation findings were a “total scandal”. He went on to say that “This is the importation of third world working conditions into Europe and in this case into the UK.”

“There’s no such thing as cheap clothing; somebody has to pay and in this case it’s the workers in Manchester who pay.”