Ted Baker to move to new Fitzrovia HQ, save on rent

(Sharecast News) - Fashion brand Ted Baker said on Friday that it has secured a new global HQ at 101 on Cleveland in the heart of Fitzrovia, London, and that the move will result in cost savings.
The company's new headquarters, which will be called the Gorgeous Brown Building (GBB), "is a fitting home for the brand with its distinctive flatiron shape and epic ceiling heights," it said.

"This will inspire Ted's creativity in a flexible workspace configured for collaboration in a beautiful new working environment for the team."

The move, which is expected to take place next summer, will save the company money. The new headline annual rent will be £900,000 compared to the current annual rent of £3.25m for the "Ugly Brown Building" in Camden.

Chief executive officer Rachel Osborne said: "We are delighted to have secured a gorgeous 30,000 sq.ft. building as our new Global HQ in Fitzrovia. It will enable us to work more efficiently and collaboratively, and most importantly to express our unique brand personality.

"Having spent more than 20 years in the Ugly Brown Building, it will be invigorating to be in our new site in Fitzrovia. Times have changed, as have our ways of working, and our brand has a refreshed personality and energy, which will be perfectly reflected in the Gorgeous Brown Building."

House broker Liberum, which rates the stock at 'buy', said: "The move of Ted Baker's head office not only delivers additional cost savings but underpins the improved commerciality of the group under this management team.

"Combined with payroll and store rent savings already delivering under the transformation, it brings total annualised savings to circa £40m per annum. We leave our forecast unchanged at this stage, noting the partial year impact to FY23E and full year impact to FY24E, which would increase profit before by circa 9%. Today's news reflects management's ongoing cost and cash flow discipline as it transforms TED into a leaner, more cash generative business."