Topshop owner worth £4.3bn; store cleaners say wages don’t cover rent and food

As contracted cleaners demand fairer pay, fashion chain removes document supporting living wage from website after Guardian inquiry

For the past six and a half years, Susana has cleaned Topshop's flagship store for a living. For the past hour, the Ecuadorian single mother of three has been pouring out stories of low pay, bullying and excessive workloads in breathless Spanish. The words flow effortlessly until she starts to talk about the seven months she had to take off work for stress and anxiety. At that point her pace slows and her voice breaks as she tries to hold back tears.

It happened in 2011, after she says her manager at Britannia Services Group - the company contracted to clean Topshop's Oxford Street branch - kicked a bucket at her in the store. Speaking to the Guardian through a translator, she says: "That was the final straw. I was depressed and humiliated." She was admitted to hospital for stress.