A woman from London says her experience working in sales was like 'selling her soul'.
"That's more money than any graduate scheme at the time," says Matt, now 25. "I was hooked. I was all in."
During an interview, the director of the company asked what she would like to achieve in life. "I said: 'Well, I'd love to retire my mum, I'd love to be able to drive a nice car.'"Like Matt, she was hooked by the dream of entrepreneurship. Determined to make a success of it, Matt says he tried his best to sell to customers on the street, working about 12 hours a day, six days a week.
According to figures from market research firm IBISWorld, the industry will draw in sales of £2.6bn in the UK in 2022-23 She describes the first day selling as "horrific", being instructed by her team leader to run door-to-door, waiting no longer than three seconds at each one.Job adverts at the firm Lauren worked for outlined full-time hours and a base income of £22,000 - although she was told to register as self-employedShe says the breaking point came after three weeks, when she wasn't able to take a toilet break during her period, and bled through her clothes.
It is a company that essentially acts like a middleman. It contracts smaller sales companies, which get their recruits to go out and sell on behalf of big-name brands.The BBC has seen several agreements sales agents signed when joining Credico-linked companies, which included clauses like the above Despite the fact they were self-employed, many of the sales agents at these smaller companies told the BBC they felt a "lack of control" about when and where they would go and sell. "None of it was on my terms," Lauren says.
"It seems to me, from what I've seen, that [sales agents] would have the right to go to an employment tribunal and say, 'I want my national living wage, I want my holidays.' And they would have the right to bring that claim." He also questioned why reforms aimed at helping vulnerable workers, promised as part of the 2019 Queen's Speech, have not yet materialised.
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