The fashion retail industry has been severely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. High streets will be left unrecognisable as stalwarts such as Debenhams and Arcadia Group’s brands permanently shut their shops, with many others also expected to rationalise their store portfolios this year. But store losses also have a marked human cost.
Following Boohoo Group’s acquisition of Debenhams last month the etailer will retain none of its 12,000 staff – 77% of whom are female, the department store s website shows. The carving up of Arcadia, between Asos and Boohoo, also leaves another 5,000 staff redundant. Here 85% of store and 71% of head-office staff were female.
UK’s fastest-growing private fashion firms revealed
Lyle & Scott, Oh Polly, Sweaty Betty, Yours Clothing and independent retailer End and are among the UK private companies with the fastest-growing international sales in 2020.
The Sunday Times HSBC International Track 200 league table – at sixteenth place overall.
Glasgow-based online fashion retailer Oh Polly ranked at number 17, while online retailer One Retail Group came in at number 47.
Activewear brand Gymshark – which secured investment from private equity firm General Atlantic in August, in a deal that values it at over £1bn – came in at number 59 in the Fast Track s rankings, after achieving annual sales growth of 86% over the last three years.
Drapers investigates: Business rates – make or break for the high street
As the industry awaits preliminary conclusions to the government’s review of business rates in England, Drapers Reset Fashion Retail campaign shows why the broken system needs fixing now “before it is too late”.
“It has been almost a year since the business rates payment holiday was introduced, but in those 365 or so days nothing has been done to reform the archaic system,” says Derihon Coquard, head of property at Yours Clothing, which has 150 stores across the UK, Ireland and Germany.
“Retailers are still in the dark as to whether the broken system will just keep being extended, or actually reformed – or abolished – altogether.”
Submitting.
Mr Killingsworth, a lifelong Peterborough resident, said he was delighted the hard work of the firm’s employees had enabled them to help local children from under-privileged backgrounds.
He said: “After finding out the desperate situation that local children are facing it made me want to do something to help.
“Through no fault of their own, not all children are able to have what many take for granted and I am passionate about giving opportunities to all Peterborough children to at least be average.
“After starting my own business from a market stall many years ago, I firmly believe that hard work and dedication can, and do, bring results.
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