MPs are set to quiz Shein bosses again as doubts mount over its planned £40billion stock market float.
The Chinese fast-fashion giant was expected to make its blockbuster public debut before Easter but faces delay as campaigners complain about allegations of abuse in its supply chain.
And members of the House of Commons business and select committee are keen to haul the retailer in for questioning for a second time, the Mail understands.
‘I wouldn’t rule it out,’ said one source close to the committee.
Committee chairman Liam Byrne is heaping pressure on the City watchdog and London Stock Exchange to force Shein to prove its ethics are worthy of a place on the UK market. MPs believe that Shein has so far failed to address concerns of forced labour.
At an initial parliamentary hearing in January, the fast-fashion giant’s top UK lawyer, Yinan Zhu, refused to say whether its cheap clothes are linked to slave labour.
Float: Shein was expected to make its blockbuster public debut before Easter but faces delay amid allegations of abuse in its supply chain
Human rights groups have accused China of slave labour in Xinjiang, where they say Uyghurs – a mostly-Muslim ethnic group – are forced to produce cotton. There are fears that Shein’s clothes use cotton from this area.
Shein, which is now based in Singapore, insists it has a ‘zero tolerance approach to forced labour’.
Joshua Reynolds, a Lib Dem MP on the select committee, said: ‘We have to ask ourselves is this the kind of company we want to welcome to our stock exchange?
Whilst we absolutely need to be ambitious and open minded when it comes to attracting investment and creating strong links with transnational corporations, this cannot come at the cost of our commitment to human rights.’
Calls for further scrutiny come as the Chinese retailer’s investors are urging it to cut its valuation to just under £24billion, according to Bloomberg News.
The company’s proposed stock market valuation has reportedly already been reduced from more than £50billion to £42billion. It had been valued as high as £80billion in 2022.
DIY INVESTING PLATFORMS
AJ Bell
AJ Bell
Easy investing and ready-made portfolios
Hargreaves Lansdown
Hargreaves Lansdown
Free fund dealing and investment ideas
interactive investor
interactive investor
Flat-fee investing from £4.99 per month
Saxo
Saxo
Get £200 back in trading fees
Trading 212
Trading 212
Free dealing and no account fee
Affiliate links: If you take out a product This is Money may earn a commission. These deals are chosen by our editorial team, as we think they are worth highlighting. This does not affect our editorial independence.
