VICTORIA Beckham has furloughed 30 staff at her fashion label despite having a family fortune of £335million, a report claims.
The former Spice Girl, whose handbag collection alone is thought to be worth £1.5million, is to claim what could amount to tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money to pay a quarter of her employees under the Government’s job retention scheme.
Staff from across her fashion label have received letters explaining that they would be paid 80 per cent of their salaries by the government, in line with Chancellor Rishi Sunak ’s scheme to help firms during the pandemic.
Mrs Beckham is understood to be topping up their wages in an ‘enhanced package’ by paying the remaining 20 per cent – though she is not obliged to do so.
Employees in the marketing department and customer services have been affected, as well as staff ather Mayfair shop which closed after Britain went into lockdown.
A spokesman for Mrs Beckham confirmed that staff will be furloughed for two months ‘so far’.
The workers will remain employed and Mrs Beckham will be able to claim back 80 per cent of their wages from the Government, up to £2,500 a month for each furloughed employee.
The scheme could help cover the wage bill for the 30 staff until the end of June.
Mrs Beckham’s company, based in Hammersmith, West London, has not made a profit since it launched in 2008. In 2018, it suffered losses of £12.3million.
The year before that, Mrs Beckham lost £10.3 million, but the business was propped up by her 44-year-old husband.
A spokesman for Mrs Beckham said: "We are working hard to ensure our much-valued Victoria Beckham team are protected during this unsettled time by keeping our business healthy.
"Having carefully assessed all our options, we made the decision to furlough a proportion of staff on an enhanced package."
