After nearly two weeks of headlines and a huge public backlash, Victoria Beckham did a dramatic U-turn last week, reversing her controversial decision to furlough 30 of her staff. The fashion designer – who, along with husband David, is worth a reported £335million – caused outrage when her company decided to use the government scheme to cover 80 per cent of the employees’ wages during the current pandemic.
Now, though, Victoria has backtracked. “We will not now be drawing on the government furlough scheme,” she said.
“At the beginning of the lockdown, the shareholders agreed with senior management to furlough a small proportion of staff. At that point, we didn’t know how long the lockdown might last or its likely impact on the business. The welfare of my team and our business means everything to me.”
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Victoria Beckham's changing style
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Our Beckham insider says Victoria knew she had to reverse the decision as she was worried what the public outcry would mean for her fashion business and Brand Beckham. “She insists the original decision was never hers and this is what she would have done,” we’re told. “She was mortified it was all so public, and says the reason it took so long to change is because she had to fight the board on this. Victoria is just hoping it will start to fade away now that it’s sorted, although she knows it’s going to be embarrassing for a long time and could be held against her.”
The 46 year old’s fashion brand was established in 2008, and has not made a profit in all of that time. The brand has reportedly had losses of around £35million and has had to be repeatedly bailed out using cash from husband David’s companies. Our source says Vic feared the company wouldn’t survive bad publicity.
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“This crisis is just getting worse for Victoria, as she’s scared the business may not survive the coronavirus lockdown,” we’re told. “She’s been left fearing it may spell the end of her fashion empire – the whole situation has just left her broken, as she sees everything she has worked so hard for just come crumbling down.”
The furlough scandal especially riled people as mum-of-four Victoria had spent the first few weeks of lockdown showing off how much fun her family was having while isolating at their huge Cotswolds country mansion. The smug posts have now stopped and the couple both returned to Instagram last week to show the work they were doing for charity.
“They’re both scared of any more scandal around Brand Beckham,” says our insider. “They know they may not be able to survive that and it’s going to take a long time to get over the backlash. Victoria is already thinking of ways to get the public back on side and will be supporting a lot of charities.”
And to make matters worse, David is facing his own struggles, too. While he usually appears to have the Midas touch, last week it was revealed he is leaving his position as a business partner of fashion label Kent & Curwen, following its reported £18million losses. And, of course, there’s still uncertainty as to when the football season will return in the US, just months after he launched his Miami team. Seems like the only thing for certain is that these are troubling times for them.
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