KentOnline

bannermobile

News

Sport

Business

What's On

Advertise

Contact

Other KM sites

CORONAVIRUS WATCH KMTV LIVE SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTERS LISTEN TO OUR PODCASTS LISTEN TO KMFM
SUBSCRIBE AND SAVE
News

Son of Boohoo chief executive John Lyttle, Louis Lyttle, dies aged 20

By: Rebecca Tuffin

Published: 15:40, 27 July 2020

Updated: 16:12, 27 July 2020

The 20-year-old son of Boohoo's chief executive has tragically died, a coroner has heard.

An inquest into the death of Louis Lyttle, from Seal near Sevenoaks, has been opened at County Hall in Maidstone.

Louis Lyttle, the son of Boohoo's chief executive, has died aged 20. Picture: LinkedIn

He was the son of John Lyttle, who runs the online fashion store, Boohoo, it has been confirmed.

Mr Lyttle has been approached regarding the death of his son but does not wish to make any comment.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Louis Lyttle was a former pupil at the King's School in Canterbury, studied business management at Cardiff University and also worked at Boohoo since July last year.

mpu1

The inquest heard he was born in Galway, Ireland and his occupation was confirmed as digital marketer.

Before this, he reportedly interned at banking company, Investec, and health insurers, Religare, according to LinkedIn.

After failing to get up for work at 5am on Monday, April 20, Mr Lyttle was found unresponsive and not breathing.

Sadly, he was pronounced dead at his home in Seal by paramedics at 6.20am.

At the opening held by coroner Alan Blunsdon, the cause of death was given as morphine toxicity. A full inquest has been adjourned until September 24.

John Lyttle took over as chief executive of Boohoo in March 2019, after previously working as Primark's chief operating officer for almost 10 years.

mpu2

The firm recently faced criticism following allegations of poor pay and working conditions at a textile factory used to produce some clothing items for the online fashion firm.

Some workers at the Leicester factory were allegedly paid £3.50 an hour - well below the £8.72 minimum wage for 25s and over - while also failing to offer protection from coronavirus.

Mr Lyttle has said the claims - if true - are "totally unacceptable" and has promised to take action.

He has launched an "immediate and independent" review of the company's UK supply chain, and is also looking to build a 'model factory' to ensure workers are treated fairly.

In addition, Mr Lyttle has written to home secretary, Priti Patel, urging the government to establish a licensing scheme for UK-based textile manufacturers.

For more information on how we can report on inquests, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Sevenoaks

Read more

More by this author

sticky

© KM Group - 2024