Lidl, Zara’s owner, H&M and Next ‘paid Bangladesh suppliers less than production cost’

Survey of 1,000 factories for campaign group claims many cut rates in pandemic and have not increased them since

Lidl, Zara's owner Inditex, H&M and Next have been accused of paying garment suppliers in Bangladesh during the pandemic less than the cost of production, leaving factories struggling to pay the country's legal minimum wage.

In a survey of 1,000 factories in the country producing clothes for UK retailers, 19% of Lidl's suppliers made the claim, as did 11% of Inditex's, 9% of H&M's and 8% of Next's.