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A top shop?

Topshop is one of the most influential brands on the high street and is the flagship brand of the Arcadia group, the UK’s second largest retailer.

• In October, Newsnight reported on the use of forced child labour to pick its cotton…

• In September, the Times found migrant workers facing deportation when they complained about long working hours, low wages, overcrowded living conditions, poor ventilation, and a lack of sanitation in their workplace…

• Yet the Arcadia group refuses to join the Ethical Trading Initiative and work with other retailers, trade unions and NGOs to improve conditions…

Topshop and the rest of the Arcadia group really needs to clean up its act!

Email them now and urge them to take their responsibilities seriously.

Writing an email in your own words will make your email more effective - you can use the text below for some ideas, and then type your own message in the box. But if you’re short of time, you can just fill in your details and click send - which is far more effective than not sending anything at all!

If you’d like to write a letter, you can send it to: Sir Philip Green, Arcadia Group Ltd. Colegrave House, 70 Berners Street, London, W1T 3NL.

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Email text*

Dear Mr Green, I write today to urge the Arcadia group to take action on unacceptable working conditions in its supply chain. In October, BBC2's Newsnight found sweatshirts supplied to Topman made in Uzbekistan, where thousands of children are forced to work in the cotton fields. Burton was also sourcing from a factory which bought Uzbek cotton. Just a few months earlier the Times reported on the harsh conditions migrant workers faced at two of Arcadia's supplier factories in Mauritius. These reports are not one-off horror stories, but illustrate the systematic disregard of basic rights in the fashion industry. Further, your response to this evidence of abuse and exploitation implies a disregard for the Arcadia Group's responsibilities. As one of the largest high street retailers the Arcadia group should be doing much more to ensure that working conditions in your supply chain meet international standards. The responsibility for meeting basic labour and environmental standards cannot simply be passed down the supply chain. Retailers must address their own practices and work with their suppliers to help them in raising standards and cooperating with other companies, trade unions and NGOs to tackle systemic problems in the garment industry. I urge the Arcadia Group to: * Make respect for labour rights an integral part of the Arcadia group's product sourcing strategy. As an essential first step towards improving conditions in its supply chain, the Arcadia Group should join the Ethical Trading Initiative, and actively use its membership to drive change. * Gather proper information about where your cotton comes from and make this information available for independent monitoring, so you can guarantee that no forced child labour is used at any stage of production. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely,

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