RE: 42.4012 Dec 2024 13:20
Drapers - Boohoo Group cuts jobs at Manchester HQ
Drapers
Zoe Hu
12 December 2024
A consultation phase is underway with affected employees, which sources told Drapers is around 200 members of staff.
It is understood the redundancies are spread across brands such as Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing, as well as job functions including buying, merchandising, design, marketing, analytics and tech.
Affected employees range from those that have been with the business for more than 10 years, to new recruits who joined earlier this year.
Boohoo Group declined to comment on the job cuts.
The group employed 2,098 office staff as of 29 February 2024, down from 2,475 from a year ago, according to its annual financial results. The latest job cuts are believed to be part of a cost-saving measure driven by new CEO Dan Finley, who was appointed on 1 November to succeed John Lyttle.
Finley said in a video message to shareholders on Tuesday: "Over the last four weeks (...) I have executed £30m in cost savings and there's tens of millions more to come."
The company's operating costs stood at £300m in the six months to 31 August, a reduction of £128m compared to two years ago. This included a 37% fall in administrative costs, a 33% drop in distribution costs following the automation of the Sheffield warehouse and a 14% fall in marketing costs.
It comes as Boohoo shareholders are due to vote next Friday (20 December) on whether to appoint Mike Ashley and restructuring expert Mike Lennon as directors.
The ongoing dispute between Boohoo and Frasers Group, which owns 28% of the Manchester-based etailer, kicked off on 24 October, when Frasers published an open letter proposing that Ashley be made director and CEO of Boohoo.
Ashley wrote to Boohoo shareholders over the weekend to warn against a "fire sale" of assets, as he intensified his campaign for a seat on the board.
Boohoo issued a letter in response to ask shareholders to reject Ashley's proposals, citing recommendations from proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis.
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