Primark
March 2020: Primark initially announced the cancellation of all orders in production, provoking widespread criticism.
Campaign update: In response to the criticism, Primark announced a fund to help pay workers in their supply chains for one month, given that they still refused to pay for raw materials or production costs, this move did not support suppliers to stay afloat and would not have helped to secure workers jobs. There were also no details as to how this money would be given to workers and when. Following ongoing pressure from labour rights groups, Primark has now announced that they will pay for all goods already handed over prior to the cancellation notice of 18 March. Payment will be subject to the normal Primark Terms and Conditions and will be paid for within the normal 30-day payment terms.
In our latest correspondence (15th July) with Primark confirmed that they have now taken all orders both finished and in production planned for handover by the 17 April and will be paying for these in full on the usual 30-day payment terms. In terms of future orders, which Primark would not have anticipated to have been in production, these were cancelled on the 18 March, but as shops re-open, Primark is now placing orders again with our suppliers and will soon be in a position to increase commitments to suppliers.
September 2020: Primark has now committed to paying in full for all outstanding finished orders. Primark has stated that it has reversed a decision to extend payment terms and recommitted to paying suppliers 30 days after the product leaves the port, the same payment terms it had in place prior to the pandemic. You can read Primark’s latest statement here.