Vote for my daughter to be Miss England, millionaire boss tells his staff



Family support: Kirstie Day, whose father arranged for workers to vote for her in the Miss England contestant

She has amassed as many votes from the public as the other 59 girls put together.



But while no-one would deny 18-year-old Kirstie Day is worthy of being crowned Miss England, she can’t take all the credit for her overwhelming popularity.



It was revealed yesterday that staff at The Edinburgh Woollen Mill’s 500 clothing stores have been instructed to vote for her – because the company is owned by her father Philip.

In a leaked email sent this week, the firm’s commercial director wrote: ‘I need and expect all stores to register a minimum of ten votes today and I mean everybody!’



By the end of the working day, Kirstie’s tally had soared from 1,300 to almost 10,000 – the same as all her rivals combined.



Last night organisers of the beauty contest said the approach did not break any rules.



But one employee of The Edinburgh Woollen Mill said: ‘It’s outrageous that staff in every store across the UK are being leaned on to try to secure the boss’s daughter the title of Miss England.’



They added that they had been given a similar edict during the public vote for Miss Cumbria, which Miss Day won last month.

On Wednesday, commercial director Steve Simpson sent an email to all 500 stores - including the Ponden Home brand - saying each one needed to register ten votes in Kirstie's favour.

Winner: The 18-year-old was named Miss Cumbria 2010

But in a sternly-worded message the following morning he warned that the expected landslide had failed to materialise and demanded staff began hitting the phones.



'I am extremely disappointed to report that only 1,300 were actually registered,' he wrote.



'For stores who have not voted or stores who are able to vote more I need you to register 10 votes minimum today.'

Phone calls: Organisers of the beauty contest said the bid to garner more votes did not break any rules

Pointing out that she is the chief executive's daughter, Mr Simpson went on: 'Just imagine what a feather in our cap it will be when Kirstie wins!



'The amount of PR from TV & radio advertising we, as a company will get from this is absolutely massive.'



Get involved: Kirstie's father, Philip Day, owns the Edinburgh Woollen Mill company

He demanded that staff achieve a minimum of 3,000 votes by 11am with another round of calls in the afternoon, concluding: 'Let's show the world the power of Edinburgh Woollen Mills/Ponden Home!'



Despite the misgivings of some employees, Kirstie's support duly rocketed, reaching almost 10,000 votes by the end of the day.



Apart from her nearest rival, Miss Charity Bolton, Noopur Sharma, who had garnered almost 7,500, none of the other winners of beauty titles from around the country had mustered more than 200 votes.



Provided her rivals don't cry foul, the teenager, who hopes to study nursing at the University of Cumbria, will go before the judges in Birmingham on August 31 for the chance of representing England at Miss World.



Winning the public vote for Miss England guarantees the candidate a place on the contest’s 20-strong shortlist.



A spokesman for The Edinburgh Woollen Mill said the email hadn’t been sent by Miss Day’s father and ‘was expected to be confidential’.

