Growth-hungry MPs are welcoming Shein’s big bucks plans to list on the London Stock Exchange, but there’s growing unease among the people who really matter – investors, says Simon Neville Whenever the City and Westminster clash, it is usually because the former wants the latter to be more lenient. The cries of “you’re stifling competition!” and “but what about our bonuses!” shrill out from all quarters of the Square Mile. So, spare a thought for poor fast-fashion online retailer Shein, over whom we are seeing this age-old trope play out in reverse.
Knee-deep in the election campaign, politicians are desperate to tell us how their vision for the future is built on growing the economy. Shein’s multi-billion pound planned listing on the London Stock Exchange is just the kind of cause they can support. It has seen both Labour and the Conservatives have met Shein bosses and appeared to welcome their plans, with both main parties assuming a strategy of supporting UK investment must surely be what all sides want.
The UK is open for business, they will shout, hoping that financial institutions and the patriotic British media will echo their rallying call. But, despite being potentially the biggest London listing in over a decade, the response from the City and the press has been muted, at best. Institutional investors are worried about corporate governance issues for the Singapore-based, Chinese business.
They are concerned that issues facing Shein in the US – whe.
