Former staff at a fast fashion brand that prides itself on empowering young women have told the Guardian they were exposed to a toxic culture of bullying, harassment and derogatory comments.
The allegations against Manchester-based retailer Missy Empire, which is now owned by Frasers Group, were made by female employees.
The company was co-founded by brothers Ash and Ish Siddique in 2015, and its website says it’s “for goal-setters, goal-setters and gorgeous women who are F with tradition and create their own beautiful style.” ”.
The brand logo is XX, which stands for “female chromosome,” and the website states that it is “a subliminal reminder that we stand for women and will continue to empower you with the power of clothes.”
But 18 former staff who spoke to the Guardian claimed there was a “toxic” work culture where young women, in particular, were mistreated by chief executive Ash Siddique.
They claim:
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Staff were bullied, shouted and swore.
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He made derogatory comments about the models’ body shape and physical appearance.
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The staff was asked to make a clothing model for the general manager.
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While seven staff members said they were dismissed without reason, two staff claimed they could not keep copies of their employment contracts.
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Missy Empire’s owners ignored official complaints.
His claims are supported by emails, screenshots and statements seen by the Guardian. The Guardian forwarded all the allegations to Ash Siddique but he did not respond.
Statements made available to the Guardian suggest that Missy Empire’s junior staff consists mostly of young female workers, many in their first jobs, and that there is a very high rate of turnover and redundancies.
Staff interested in a career in fashion reported that they were excited to participate, but their enthusiasm and self-confidence were lacking. None of the workers who spoke to the Guardian stayed at the company for more than a year and a half; many stayed only a few months.
“I was crying in the toilet all day because I was being bullied,” said one staff member, who started in late 2022 and left a year later for a new job.
“During my first week there, I was called into the office many times and yelled at about mistakes and failures of the work. HE [Ash Siddique] He acted like it was my fault.
He added that his experience there left him with “anxiety and depression.”
Bury-based JD Sports, valued at £8bn, bought a majority stake in Missy Empire in June 2021 and sold it to Frasers Group in December 2022. Both are FTSE 100 companies that own several smaller brands.
Staff told the Guardian that JD Sports and Frasers Group were made aware of the issues at Missy Empire and that at least seven emails had been sent to their human resources departments since April 2022, detailing seven separate complaints.
Some of the allegations made to the Guardian concerned staff who have left in recent months, raising questions about what action had been taken.
Frasers Group did not respond to a request for comment.
A JD Group spokesman said it had been the majority shareholder for 18 months but Missy Empire was “responsible for the day-to-day running of the business, including its own HR procedures”.
“I was called stupid”
Missy Empire staff had submitted their complaints in writing to Frasers Group by the end of last year.
Entrepreneur Mike Ashley controls Frasers Group with a nearly 72% stake; He made his name at Sports Direct before taking over the House of Fraser stores and acquiring a number of retail brands including Missguided and Jack Wills.
An email from a female worker who left her job in the summer of 2023 to the Frasers Group HR employee relations manager raised the issue of swearing in a holiday-related conversation.
She told the HR manager: “Many times during the interview I was called an idiot, ridiculed and told I wasn’t needed so I should be free to walk out the door. Ash also said that I was not allowed to have a holiday, that he could decide when to take a holiday and that he did not want to give it to me, if I wanted to take a holiday, I could do it if I could get unpaid leave.
He added: “I and other employees are often spoken to this way. “Ash’s behavior caused me anxiety and depression while Missy was working at Empire.”
In an earlier email sent in March 2023, the same employee claimed that what appeared to be a voice recorder was seen on the ceiling of the staff kitchen. He shared a photo of himself with Frasers Group and asked for it to be investigated.
Staff say no action was taken after either email, but the employee relations manager responded on March 20 saying, “Missy Empire does not currently have an HR function.” They asked for more details after complaining about fear of being recorded.
‘A toxic workplace where people fear for their jobs’
At the beginning of 2023, another staff member, who had worked at Missy Empire from summer 2022 but claimed she was fired after Ash Siddique found a list of her complaints, also emailed the HR employee relations manager at Frasers Group.
It raised a number of issues, including allegations of swearing and derogatory comments about staff’s performance and models’ body shape. The worker claimed that he had been subjected to this treatment and that he had seen others subjected to the same treatment.
The email said Ash Siddique “treats staff like they have no value; degrading, degrading. Swears constantly [sic] treats you like dirt and belittles you until you submit.”
He also stated: “[Ash Siddique] He commented on people’s bodies and appearances, describing a previous model as ‘fat with a pig nose’.
He said the director created “a toxic work environment where people fear for their jobs.” The woman, who works as a creative assistant, said Ash Siddique asked a colleague “whether she would rather he say please or pay her.”
The employee claims his complaint was not taken seriously.
Staff said the HR department email address at Missy Empire was controlled and monitored by Ash’s brother Ish Siddique, co-founder and director, and not by an HR manager, so there was nowhere for them to take their complaints to JD Sports or the takeover by Frasers Group. .
A contract seen by the Guardian shows women are not paid for overtime. Lunch breaks were not paid and they claim their wages were deducted if they returned late.
Two female employees, who thought they were dismissed without any justification and dismissed in 2023, claimed that they were in a meeting at the end of 2022; Here, women were told to join OnlyFans, a service used by sex workers to get paid, while pay rises were being discussed. for pornographic videos.
“We were talking about salary increases and he said [Ash Siddique] “One of our staff members said we should all do OnlyFans as a side hustle and that she would be our manager,” he said.
Missy Empire’s creations include bodycon outfits, bikinis, crop tops and pants at a low-cost price range. The website says the designs are “influenced by celebrities with sexual appeal, current pop culture and the latest global trends.”
One woman in her 20s, who also felt she had been fired without cause, said she was told at the job interview that she would be one of many people in her department, but that wasn’t the case when she started the job.
“Two people were fired in the first week and that was very normal for everyone working there. “I saw a lot of people leave in the months I was there,” he claimed.
He claimed staff were asked to try on clothes and wrote down their measurements, even though this was not in their job description. “Once a revealing dress was too small and [Ash Siddique] “He asked me to try it, but I said no,” he said.
A staff member who worked at Missy Empire for more than five months in 2022 described it as a “weird place” to work.
“There was no privacy,” he said. “Ash acted very inappropriately towards some employees.” He claimed he had “violent arguments” with suppliers and staff in the manager’s office.
‘He only wanted women with big hips and big breasts’
One employee, who was there until spring 2023 and claimed he was fired without valid reason, said: “He told us the models were too fat and we couldn’t use them. “He only wanted women with big hips, big breasts and slim waists.”
Another former employee said the manager would approve images of which influencers could be used to promote the brand. “He was adamant that all women should have sexual appeal… He would openly call women fat or skinny. “It was very loud.”
Three workers raised privacy concerns, claiming they were not given a company phone and were expected to use WhatsApp on their phones and laptops to talk to colleagues. They claim that company executives have access to all laptops so they can read all personal WhatsApp messages if they wish.
JD Group said that as a “significant shareholder”, Missy Empire colleagues “may raise any concerns through JD’s department or whistleblowing policy”. It said a “small number of issues” had been formally reported to the company and were “investigated and addressed” in accordance with its procedures.
The spokesman said: “Everyone has the fundamental right to feel safe and respected at work.”