Primark have come under a lot of criticism surrounding their ethical standards following the damaging report from Panoroma on the 23rd June 08.  The main Primark website, www.primark.co.uk,  now has a prominent ethical Trading link on the home page which links to a new website www.ethicalprimark.co.uk.  The interesting thing is that this new site was only registered as an internet domain name on the 30th May 2008 (just 3 weeks before the Panorama programme aired on BBC1). It would appear that the site has been created to try and restore consumer confidence after a pretty shocking report by the Panoroma team.

On the new site Primark lay down their code of conduct with the following key points :-

Employment is freely chosen

Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are respected

Working conditions are safe and hygienic

Child labour shall not be used

Living wages are paid

Working hours are not excessive

No discrimination is practised

Regular employment is provided

No harsh or inhumane treatment is allowed

The Panoroma report found evidence that tears the above points apart but I guess we will never know how much the Primark management team knew of the practices revealed in the documentary.  Hopefully Primark will swiftly clean up their act whether it is through a genuine belief in the values they preach or through fear that any future revelations will damage their bottom line profit.