When Gary Lineker wore a green jacket from Next while presenting coverage of the Euros, he was accused of flouting BBC guidelines by plugging his own clothing range.
Now he is facing further questions after a Mail on Sunday investigation today reveals that workers who make the jacket are paid a pitiful 44p an hour.
The MoS discovered that those involved in producing hundreds of the £55 jackets promoted by Lineker are enduring grinding poverty and living in tiny tin-roof shacks near a giant factory complex in Bangladesh.
Gary Lineker pictured wearing the Next jacket on BBC during the Euros coverage of England v Serbia on June 16
Former footballer Gary Lineker pictured wearing the £55 Next jacket that he promotes
Now he is facing further questions after a Mail on Sunday investigation today reveals that workers who make the jacket are paid a pitiful 44p an hour
The MoS discovered that those involved in producing hundreds of the £55 jackets promoted by Lineker are enduring grinding poverty and living in tiny tin-roof shacks near a giant factory complex in Bangladesh
Our investigation also found:
- A worker in her 20s, who said she stitched the jackets, described working at least 48 hours a week in stifling heat – and she barely makes enough money to provide for her young child;
- A male worker laughed bitterly when told the jacket he made costs more than double his weekly wage and is endorsed by Mr Lineker, adding: ‘We work many hours and cannot buy a jacket like this with our salary’;
- Next, which boasted record £918million profits last year, has been criticised for failing to back calls for a higher minimum wage in Bangladesh;
- Lineker, who is paid £1.35million a year by the BBC to front Match Of The Day, previously fought back tears and spoke of the ‘inhumane’ poverty he witnessed in Bangladesh during a film for Sport Relief;
- Branding experts told this newspaper his Next deal may be worth about £2million.
Last night Khadija Khatun, a trade union leader in Bangladesh, said it was ‘shocking’ that someone with Mr Lineker’s influence is paid to promote clothes made by workers earning ‘poverty wages’.
Lineker came under fire earlier this month when he led coverage of England’s opening match against Serbia, in front of 15 million BBC viewers, wearing a pale green T-shirt and ‘trucker’ jacket from his Next range.
He was accused of breaching the BBC’s strict rules on promotional activity, and BBC Sport bosses reportedly spoke to Lineker afterwards to remind him of the guidelines. He has not been seen wearing clothes from his Next range on TV since the controversy.
Lineker came under fire earlier this month when he led coverage of England’s opening match against Serbia, in front of 15 million BBC viewers, wearing a pale green T-shirt and ‘trucker’ jacket from his Next range
Next, which boasted record £918million profits last year, has been criticised for failing to back calls for a higher minimum wage in Bangladesh
This weekend, after a two-week investigation in Bangladesh, a Mail on Sunday reporter traced the sage-green jacket worn by the wealthy ex-footballer to a factory complex run by a firm called the Aptech Group in Gazipur, a sprawling industrial city 27 miles north of Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka.
The MoS spoke to six workers at the factory, who confirmed it produces garments that are part of the Next Gary Lineker range.
Four either worked on, or saw others work on, the sage-green jacket Lineker wore on TV.
Located behind imposing metal gates on a vast industrial park, Aptech boasts a huge 460,000 sq ft factory that churns out so-called ‘ready-made’ high-street clothes, plus a second 229,000 sq ft factory that produces business suits.
Many of Aptech’s thousands of garment employees work on its production lines for six days a week but have to boost their meagre pay packets by working overtime.
The workers, many of whom have moved hundreds of miles from the poorest parts of Bangladesh to work in the factory, live in shanty villages in the countryside around the complex.
The homes, which are made of wood and corrugated tin, normally have one main living space with a connected bathroom and kitchen, where families cook their meals on rudimentary gas stoves.
Last week, as chickens and stray dogs roamed in the street outside, an MoS reporter spoke to an Aptech worker in her tiny home near the industrial park.
The machinist said she personally worked on the sage-green jacket about three months ago, stitching part of its inside pocket.
‘We had the order for about 15-20 days,’ she said. ‘There are about 100 of us who worked on the jacket in our line. All of the jackets of this kind were made with my hand. If there were 2,000 jackets, then I handled 2,000.’
The woman said she works eight hours a day, six days a week for a salary of 13,500 Taka (£91) a month.
This is above the legal minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh of 12,500 Taka (£84) but, taking into account the exhausting 48-hour week, it still equates to just 44 pence per hour.
A Mail on Sunday reporter traced the sage-green jacket worn by the wealthy ex-footballer to a factory complex run by a firm called the Aptech Group in Gazipur, a sprawling industrial city 27 miles north of Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka
The MoS spoke to six workers at the factory, who confirmed it produces garments that are part of the Next Gary Lineker range
By the standards of many factories in Bangladesh, Aptech’s facilities appear modern and clean, with staff offered healthcare and childcare services.
A video on its website shows large fans in some rooms to help workers cope with the searing temperatures, which last week approached 40 degrees centigrade.
Despite this, the woman claims employees still suffer stifling hot conditions on the factory floor and are regularly berated by supervisors if they miss key production targets. ‘There is heat on the floor, with so many people working there. There are no table fans, but we have ceiling fans.
‘When they [the supervisors] feel pressure from those above them, they behave badly with us. They tell us to hurry up, and they talk to us in anger. They swear at us.’
Another worker, who lives in a shanty village called Latifpur, a five-minute drive from Aptech, said he delivered the fabric for the jacket to the factory’s cutting section. The father of a young child earns 13,500 Taka (£91) a month after a recent pay rise.
He showed the MoS a payslip from January which detailed how his monthly gross pay then was just 12,700 Taka (£85).
The payslip shows that he boosts his salary – some of which he sends to his parents who live in a village 80 miles north of Dhaka – by working overtime for 44 pence per hour.
Elsewhere in Latifpur, the MoS met a female garment worker who said she remembers the sage-green jacket being made in the building where she works.
Her home is larger, with five ramshackle rooms, but it houses three generations of her family and most evenings there is a power cut. She described the factory floor as a tough place to work.
‘There is pushing and shoving, there is swearing and shouting. If their superiors put pressure on them [the supervisors], then they will pressure us.’
The woman, in her 30s, says she earns 14,100 Taka (£95) per month, or 46 pence per hour.
She and her husband, who is also a garment worker, live in a basic shack and have to pay for their three children to attend college. ‘I have to manage my life, what else can I do? I am a poor person.’
Mahbub Sarwar, deputy general manager of the Aptech Group, said its wage structure is aligned with the minimum pay levels published by Bangladesh’s government and ‘is designed to support a reasonable standard of living’.
‘The workers are happy with their existing pay,’ he added. He said that the company’s ventilation systems ‘effectively keep the factory floors cool’ and that Aptech’s ‘anti-harassment committee’ ensures a ‘safe and respectful workplace’.
The scenes of poverty witnessed by the MoS last week will be familiar to Lineker.
He visited the country in 2012 to make a film for BBC Sport Relief and appeared close to tears as he watched children foraging for bits of plastic in a 100-acre rubbish dump in Dhaka. ‘It’s the most appalling thing I have ever seen,’ he said. ‘Welcome to hell.’
By the standards of many factories in Bangladesh, Aptech’s facilities appear modern and clean, with staff offered healthcare and childcare services
He visited the country in 2012 to make a film for BBC Sport Relief and appeared close to tears as he watched children foraging for bits of plastic in a 100-acre rubbish dump in Dhaka. Gary Lineker pictured on Visit Bangladesh in 2012
He later told The Sunday Times of the profound impact his trip had on him, saying: ‘I’ve visited poor countries before, but this was more personal. It was very moving.’
Bangladesh was rocked last year by weeks of violent protests as workers demanded a higher minimum wage.
The wage did increase from 8,000 Taka (£54) to 12,500 Taka (£84) last December, but experts argue this is still far too low. Unions are calling for a minimum of 23,000 Taka (£155), which is based on a study done by the respected Bangladesh Institute For Labour Studies.
The Clean Clothes Campaign accused Next and 12 other big retailers of being ‘painfully idle’ on the issue and a ‘disappointing failure’ to back higher wages.
Meanwhile, Khadija Khatun of the Sommelitho [United] Garment Workers Association, said: ‘Mr Lineker should use his influence to ensure garment workers in Bangladesh get more money for the work they do.
‘The problem with the minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh is that no one can actually live on it. Mr Lineker should visit Bangladesh again and see the living conditions of those who earn just above this minimum wage.’
Next said the factory was last inspected by its ‘code of practice’ team last year and given an ‘acceptable’ rating. The workers were not found to be underpaid or working in stifling heat or under harassment from supervisors, the company said.
It stressed that ‘most if not all’ major clothing retailers source clothes from Bangladesh and that one in four garments sold in the UK are made there.
He later told The Sunday Times of the profound impact his trip had on him, saying: ‘I’ve visited poor countries before, but this was more personal. It was very moving.’
A spokesman added: ‘Over the last ten years the garment industry’s minimum wage has more than doubled in Bangladesh.
‘Manufacturing has contributed to a dramatic improvement in living standards and working conditions and while we understand the pace of change is frustrating, huge progress has been made.’
Mr Lineker first began promoting Next clothing in 2022, saying: ‘Fashion is something I’m really passionate about and I like the variety offered by Next.’
One leading publicist last night estimated that the presenter’s multi-year deal with the retail giant could be worth up to £2million.
‘I’ve spoken to people in two different advertising agencies and they both corroborated that it could be as much as £2 million for the deal,’ the source said.
‘Gary Lineker is a compelling personality and he represents very authentic brands. For his age and his look he is very much high street.’
A representative for Mr Lineker did not respond to our questions.