Matalan

Matalan Retail Ltd
Privately held company
Industry Retail
Founded Preston (1985)
Headquarters Knowsley
Key people
 John Hargreaves, founder and chairman
Products Clothing, Homeware
Revenue Increase £1,100 million GBP (2013)
Website www.matalan.co.uk

Matalan is a British fashion and homeware retailer based in Knowsley, United Kingdom. It was established by John Hargreaves in 1985. Matalan have 217 stores across the United Kingdom.

A Matalan store at Kingston Park

In 2009 Hargreaves sought to sell off Matalan but failed to find buyers willing to meet the £1.5 billion price Hargreaves set.[1]

Jason Hargreaves was appointed managing director in July 2013.[2]

Matalan was amongst the companies who sourced clothes from the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh, which collapsed, killing 1,129 people in April 2013.[3]

In July 2014, they were the focus of a campaign by 38 Degrees and Labour Behind the Label, for failing to contribute to the official compensation fund co-ordinated by the ILO.[4] This was in contrast to some of their main competitors, such as Primark who contributed $9 million.[5] After pressure, they announced that they would contribute an undisclosed amount.[6] It was later revealed that they had paid £60,000 [7] in to the fund, which labour rights campaigns challenged as being an insufficient amount compared with other retailers.[8]

In November 2014, Matalan sponsored a three-day event to celebrate fashion, art, photography and architecture in Liverpool, the hometown of Jason Hargreaves.[9] The event was backed by Matalan and organised by Cricket Fashion co founder, Justine Mills and Denise Harris of SK Events.[10]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Matalan founder John Hargreaves to trouser £250m in refinancing deal". www.theguardian.com. 11 February 2010. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  2. ↑ Holland, Tiffany (15 July 2013). "Profile: Matalan's new managing director Jason Hargreaves".
  3. ↑ "Pressure intensifies on Matalan to give to Rana Plaza fund". The Times. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "'If Primark can pay over factory collapse, why can't Matalan?' - Telegraph". Telegraph.co.uk. 28 July 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  5. ↑ "Primark Ethical Trading - Our Work in Bangladesh". Primark Ethical Trading. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  6. ↑ Julia Kollewe. "Matalan donates to Rana Plaza victims' trust fund one day before deadline". the Guardian. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  7. ↑ "Press Release: Matalan slammed for "trivial" compensation payments to Rana Plaza victims". Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  8. ↑ "38 Degrees - Blog - Matalan: Only £60,000". Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  9. ↑ McGregor, Kirsty (14 November 2014). "Celebration of Style event kicks off in Liverpool". Drapers Online.
  10. ↑ Jurga, S. (19 November 2014). "Celebration Of Style, Liverpool". #INSPO.
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