Member Info for ragtrade

PP1 just to add, trade was pretty poor through May, since good weather hit it has been off the scale, last 3 weeks has seen seasonal product go through the roof and has by and large made up for what was lost during May, we need decent temps to persist during rest of June and July for a bumper Summer, generally in August people's minds switch to trans product as the season starts to turn. If you'll allow me to keep saying it, Q3/Q4 is when we see what BH is made of, signs at mo all good.

PP1 -Just to add that BH Group have also signed up to the Fast Forward Initiative, this was established in 2014 with the aim of uncovering audit evasion and exploitation inc forced labour. I now believe they are doing as much as all the market leaders of ESG in the trade inc Asos/M&S , beyond self flagellation in front the Parliamentary Ethics Committee i really cannot see what more they could be doing and i think their integrity on pushing for total transparency is surely no longer in doubt.
https://www.fastforwarduk.org/

Source :Drapers
Boohoo’s Debenhams beauty store a ‘savvy’ move
A Debenhams beauty store would help attract premium cosmetic brands back to the Boohoo Group-owned business, industry onlookers have said.
Earlier today (16 June), Boohoo Group confirmed it is in talks to open a small Debenhams beauty shop outside of London, in order to strike new deals with "top" luxury beauty brands.
Boohoo said that some beauty brands had refused to supply products to Debenhams unless it had a physical store presence. Boohoo closed all Debenhams stores after rescuing the retailer from administration in a £55m deal back in January, taking its proposition online.
The website does not stock make-up brands such as Yves Saint Laurent and Chanel, both of which were previously sold in the department stores.
Industry onlookers said a dedicated beauty store could help to attract those brands back to Debenhams.
“It is a very commercially savvy move,” Andrew Jennings, global retail adviser and former House of Fraser CEO, told Drapers. “[Under its previous owners] Debenhams stocked most beauty brands, from good to better and best [in terms of price range and quality]. It is a great opportunity to attract beauty brands back to Debenhams. I’m sure that beauty suppliers would be very happy to do business with them.”
Tamara Senderat, senior fashion analyst at market insight company Mintel, agreed: “It’s not a great surprise that Boohoo is looking at ways to encourage luxury beauty brands to sell their products on its online Debenhams platform.
“A Debenhams' beauty store would help Boohoo showcase prestige brands in a more premium shopping environment and would allow it to more effectively differentiate them from mass and budget brands than it can do on an online platform. A store would also allow it to better engage with premium beauty customers by focusing on customer service and a compelling shopping experience."
However, she added: "Nevertheless, Boohoo faces competition from other new beauty store concepts including fashion retailer Next and its new beauty and home stores and Harrods’ H Beauty."
John Stevenson, retail analyst at investment bank Peel Hunt, said "Boohoo has got no choice but to open a store": "A lot of the beauty brands insist that retailers must have a physical store, rather than just an online presence, it is not an usual requirement. It’s archaic, but it is the way a lot of beauty brands operate. This will not be a Boohoo concept store for clothing, it is purely to get access to luxury beauty brands.”
Stevenson said he does not anticipate that this will lead to a chain of Debenhams beauty stores: “One store will be enough for them, I’m not expecting it to be a precursor to a big estate or chain of beauty stores, it will be one store to meet the contractual obligations. The location of the store doesn’t matter either."

Google it, its a report in Telegraph, in pub too painful to post link as im drinking Broadside.

We are now seeing BH Group pushing extremely hard on Compliance Worldwide through Bureau Veritas. I was concerned that they were concentrating on UK and kicking the can down the road a little bit on RoW but over the last few months communication has been very persistent and frequent in informing that if they do not get response to Audit requests then factory's will be disengaged within two weeks. This is exactly the type of robust enforcement that you want to see, its is also in line with market leaders on this Asos, Primark etc, regardless of any up to date Compliant Audit they are also warning to expect unannounced inspections. Hallelujah, this is 1000000% how it should be, factories must be under no illusion that their house must always be in order or else pay the penalty, this is now a the BH Group default position, whilst they can, will and are doing more they are now at least up to speed with where they should be in getting the whole supply chain professionally audited/mapped and there is no doubt, at the coal face at least, that they are very sincere in stamping out any Non Compliances to the ETI Base Codes.

HKK - I saw this article and laughed my head off, can't see any mention of Next M&S , no mention of Primark, no mention of Supermarket Clothes or Fleece which is 100% poly and sheds micro plastic fibres into the water system every time you wash it, i could go on but it's all so vapid, meanwhile i can see nothing about this on BBC which is reported yesterday.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jun/10/takeaway-food-and-drink-litter-dominates-ocean-plastic-study-shows

Source -Drapers-Bella
Sales soar at Inditex
Spanish retail group Inditex reported year on year net sales growth of 50% to €4.9bn (£4.2bn) between 1 February and 30 April, as its digital model “bears fruit”.
Online sales at the group, which owns brands including Zara, Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti, grew by 67%, compared to the same period in 2020.
Total sales between 1 May and 6 June 2021 registered year-on-year growth of 102% compared to the same period in 2020, an 5% growth compared to 2019. During this trading period, 10% of trading hours were unavailable due to store closures and business restrictions.
EBITDA grew 155% to £1.2bn (£1bn) in the first quarter of this year. Net profit reached €421m (£362m) in the quarter, compared with a loss of €409m (£352m) in the first quarter of 2020. EBIT totalled €569m (£488m) compared to a loss of €508m (£436m) for the same period in 2020.
The group’s net cash reached €7.2bn (£6.2bn) at the reporting period, up 25% from a year earlier, and the highest reported in a first quarter.
Inditex’s executive chairman, Pablo Isla, highlighted how the retailer's "differentiation and strategic transformation towards a fully integrated, digital and sustainable model continues to bear fruit supported by the commitment displayed by all the people who work at Inditex”, attributes which are crucial as lockdown restrictions ease.
Inditex said the integrated stock management system (SINT), which allows an online order to be fulfilled from any store, has been “pivotal” in its performance. This has been combined with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, providing real-time data on inventory, which has enabled the company “to operate with even tighter inventory levels, while improving the customer shopping experience”.
In a bid to continually improve the shopping experience, during the first quarter, Inditex inaugurated the new zara.com building at its head offices in Arteixo (A Coruña, Spain), which houses the audiovisual production studios and the teams tasked with coordinating the brand’s online presence.
The company is also forging ahead with its €1bn (£860m) digitalisation investment plan between 2020 and 2022. At the quarter close, the company had 6,758 stores in 96 markets, having opened 53 new stores in 21 markets during the period. These are bigger and higher-tech stores that are fully ready to adapt for business model evolution.

Daman before i sign off that word nuanced , look it up, then read this inc who takes inventory risk.
LoL my work here is done.

https://corporate.zalando.com/en/brand-hub/wholesale

Slipperz i wouldnt engage , turn him green, Danman Sachs just keeps repeating the obvious, guys a total Ginger tool , accoutants mind can read a retrospective report but is clueless on nuances that make up the industry, told him big brands wouldnt sign up , told him it would take months for MP but falls on accountants ears, I even offered to buy him some 12 wale cords but he turned me down, i think he may have indulged in the heel height increasing shoes tho.

Danman Sachs bet this warm weather is havoc for you!

So as i mentioned Debs in one of my many tedious tennis matches with you Debs will not be able to convert the large Brands to the MP model, as you xan clearly see this is the case , the big denim brands are not intrested in it. MP is great for the smaller brands and perhaps the weaker failing larger brands. As i mentioned MP is great but all takes time unlike your comments about oven ready to go , yet here we are in June and only a handfull if that of Brands and oh look Debs still buying at wholesale prices for Lee, Wrangler Ben Sherman etc etc . Yawn, your going back to Green dullard Accountant word man.

Arox , sorry yep your right, deffo looks like the more niche Brands are joiing up for Marketplace model, be very intriguing to see, when they have a few more, how they will approach and market it on the site, currently very low key. But for Aw21 i expect i big message. As i mentioned back when Debs took over it would take time but now def starting to happen so exciting times, will also be intresting to see how many and which Brands they attract to this as it pretty onerous but this is a great Brand to have on board, As ive saud previously the more familiar Brands im pretty sure wont sign up eg Lee, Ben Sherman Wrangler etc etc but it is important for Debs to keep these as the stronger Brands as traditionally they do very well for Debs but they wont be interested in fulfillment/ returns game but do pull in alot of purchases. Anyway Q3/ Q4 is when we see the site and the share fly, possibly ! LoL

Arox1 , Ladies Brand Yumi is def new, good back story, more importantly see the sell prices, this is a great mid range Brand, not crazy cheap, not crazy expensive and not on Marketplace, i expect to see more of these selected Brands coming on line over the coming months, Yumi slightly older demo than Warehouse and leaning towards BoHo but it's quality is def in line with the higher London Brands.

Drapers today, it's a long article, too big to cut n paste so hope link works as it's sub only.

Why fashion is paying green dividends
Boohoo Group’s new remuneration policy is the latest "green" financing initiative to offer incentives for fashion’s environmental and social performance.

https://www.drapersonline.com/insight/why-fashion-is-paying-green-dividends

Danman Sachs, blimey, all these free shares on BH and Card, you'll be able to hit the Friday night Chinese Buffet soon, your a totes genius fella, i can't keep up.
I think you should get the Ombre Bullet, you know where to put it, lol lol lol, it's called humour Danman.

Danman Sachs, listen, i know your an Accountant (apologies to those of you who do) and don't have a sense of humour but FFS chill out fella, this is Fashion or not as the case may be , lol.

Further to Halli10's post a correction from me

"From New Born to Grey Pound not too mention a massive comprehensive Branded and Own Buy Beauty offer, Shein 's offer doesn't even come close to matching the diversity of BH Group especially the Karen Millen 9 inch Wand with it's 7 functions, 3 speeds and 4 vibration pattern's.

Moose you spoke to soon, lol.
For the record i cud have sold and made decent margin months back. Covid has brought a siizemic shift to the industry , the volumes we make for Asos now are staggering , when i got a call from someone I recommended for a placement to there original offices in the Strand i trotted on down, i knew the management thought this is future and so i listened, end of the chat i said what volumes , 150pcs of a style , errrrrrr ok i said thats a bit of an issue how many lines , 400 , mmmmmm , ok cant do 150pcs i need 250pcs for reasons i wont bore u with (unless your interested tgen gladly i'll explain! ), today Asos one line inc colours 150,000pcs over 8 month period. Boo Hoo can nail these volumes now they have Debs . They have the Brand width, BH group is sooooo different to BH/PLT of old, its gone from niche to mass appeal and thats just the clothing offer, they have some incredibly talented and motivated people in London now, i know these people they are some of the best, its why i didnt sell, i think BH group has legs, long ones.

Drapers Summary
Boohoo Group has confirmed that it will link senior executive director bonuses to its environmental, social and governance (ESG) improvements.
The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) made the recommendation in a letter to the group following an evidence session in December 2020. The committee said aligning executive remuneration to ESG improvements would demonstrate a “genuine commitment to environmental and social responsibility”.
In its annual report, Boohoo Group executive chairman, Mahmud Kamani. said: “We have redesigned the executive directors’ remuneration policy to align the interests of the executives with stakeholders, including the introduction of performance conditions linked to ESG criteria.
"This is an important part of the board’s response to the findings of the Independent Review and the successful implementation of the corporate governance aspects of our Agenda for Change programme."
Last month, Kamani told EAC that the group was looking into the change following recommendations put forward by the committee.

Drapers 19/05
The baseline salaries of Boohoo's four executive directors, and five non-executive directors, have increase in the financial year to 28 February.
The base salary of founders Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane increased 3.5% to £450,000 in the year.
Boohoo CEO John Lyttle’s salary grew by 3.7% to £615,000, meanwhile CFO Neil Catto's base salary increased to £300,000 from £294,833.
Their bonuses remain unchanged compared to the previous year.
Boohoo’s five non-executive directors base salaries also increased- the total figure was up by 8% to £277,051 with individual salaries ranging between £60,000 to £126,859. As was the case in the previous year, none of the five non-executive directors received a bonus.

contd from below
Industry insiders say that other strategic players in the online beauty sector, including THG Holdings, parent of The Hut Group, and German-based rival Zalando are also expected to evaluate offers for Cult Beauty and Feelunique.
Bids are understood to be due for both businesses in the coming weeks.
An ASOS spokeswoman declined to comment.