Boohoo hires PKF Littlejohn as new auditor to replace PwC

Online fashion giant Boohoo has hired a new auditor following the resignation of PwC in October amid the fallout from accusations of labour abuses within its supply chain.

On Monday, the retailer said it has appointed PKF Littlejohn as its new auditor with immediate effect.

PwC’s auditors had signed off on the company’s records for the last seven years but cut ties earlier this year following the supply chain scandal.

Boohoo said in a statement on Monday: “The board would like to thank PwC for its services and support provided to the group over the past seven years.”

The PwC resignation came after Boohoo faced allegations that it did not take the right steps to ensure that workers in its supply chain were treated correctly.

In September, a top QC, who was appointed by Boohoo to probe the allegations, found that there were “serious issues” in the company’s supply chain.

Alison Levitt said: “Boohoo has not felt any real sense of responsibility for the factory workers in Leicester and the reason is a very human one: it is because they are largely invisible to them.”

She said bosses had been aware of problems at their suppliers since at least the end of last year.

Last week, the fashion company said it had exited deals with 64 garment factories after it found some clothing suppliers in Leicester were paying workers less than minimum wage.

Boohoo founder and executive chairman Mahmoud Kahmani told MPs that the firm did not previously have the “right oversight and structures in place”.

“Our business has been growing between 50% and 100% year on year and we have been growing the top line, and processes do fall away,” he said.

Boohoo’s new auditor, PKF Littlejohn, is the UK’s seventh largest accountancy firm by the number of stock market clients.

Analysts at Jefferies said: “We recognise that there may be some disappointment from investors that Boohoo’s new auditor is not one of the Big Four”.