The Kenyan tea industry faces an internal inquiry following a BBC investigation that revealed numerous cases of sexual assault by a number of managers at tea plantations in the country.

The companies involved in the expose say they are shocked by the allegations made in the report, with more than 70 women coming forward to allege abuses at plantations operated by two British companies, Unilever and James Finlay.

At present, four managers have been suspended, with Beatrice Kemei, who serves as a representative for a tea-growing area in Kericho county, saying the report highlighted “entrenched” sexual harassment at “tea multinationals operating in our country”.

A committee of the country’s MPs are expected to complete an investigation into the allegations within two weeks, with one woman saying she was infected with HIV by her supervisor after being pressured into having sex with him.

An undercover BBC reporter posed as a jobseeker and was invited for an interview by a recruiter for Finlay & Co; the interview was held in a hotel room where she was asked to undress and offered money with the recruiter saying: “We’ll lie down, finish and go. Then you come and work.”

Many firms have voiced their concerns with supermarket giants Tesco saying it takes the allegations “very seriously” and Starbucks suspending purchasing from James Findlay & Co in Kenya.