Boohoo’s biggest shareholder, Frasers Group, has demanded to know why Umar Kamani – son of the fashion giant Mahmud Kamani – is receiving an annual payment of £2m+ for ‘consultancy services’.
Frasers made the claims in their latest open letter just days after shareholders overwhelmingly rejected their calls to have Mahmud Kamani removed as a director.
The latest letter came from company secretary Robert Palmer on behalf of Frasers Group and can be read here.
It states: “Frasers would like to make boohoo shareholders aware of certain troubling matters in relation to the remuneration that Frasers understands Umar Kamani, the son of boohoo’s founder and executive vice chair, Mahmud Kamani, is receiving for providing ‘consultancy services’ to a subsidiary of boohoo.”
The payments relate to 36-year-old’s Umar’s return to the helm of struggling PrettyLittleThing in September 2024 – 18 months after quitting as CEO.
However, Frasers say they remain ‘deeply troubled by boohoo’s governance practices and lack of transparency’.
The statement added: “Frasers understands that PrettyLittleThing, one of boohoo’s subsidiaries, is currently significant to boohoo’s business, contributing substantially to its revenue, brand portfolio and overall strategy.
“In a similar manner, Umar Kamani has identified the importance of his role at PLT as being the person responsible for ‘steering PrettyLittleThing forward’.
“It is therefore surprising, given the material significance of PLT to boohoo’s business and the purported importance of Umar Kamani’s role at PLT, that no details of Umar Kamani’s remuneration at PLT have been provided to boohoo shareholders.
“Frasers has recently been made aware of reports alleging that Umar Kamani is receiving payments exceeding £2m annually from PLT to a bank account in Dubai.
“Despite repeated requests from Frasers that the details of this consultancy arrangement be disclosed and notwithstanding the significance of the alleged amounts and apparent conflict of interest concerns, including in relation to Umar Kamani’s position as a related party to boohoo and PLT, no details have been provided to boohoo shareholders.
“Frasers is aware that other shareholders of boohoo have previously asked boohoo questions relating to Umar Kamani’s position at PLT and no responses from boohoo have been forthcoming.
“Frasers therefore asks boohoo again to urgently provide full details of Umar Kamani’s consultancy arrangement, including the remuneration that Umar Kamani is receiving, for the benefit of all boohoo shareholders.”
BusinessCloud understands the payment relates to his work trying to turnaround the fashion brand’s fortunes.
In a separate development, Boohoo Group’s CEO Daniel Finley outlined his plans for 2025 in a LinkedIn post.
“The mission is clear: we need to get back to our very best,” he wrote. “As global leaders, we must deliver the strongest propositions to our consumers in the most engaging, innovative, and efficient ways possible.
“I’m excited about what’s to come. We’ll make 2025 a year to remember—fuelled by our bold ambition and big energy.”