Radley London to raise prices to combat Trump’s tariffs
Luxury handbags brand Radley London has warned it will increase its prices in the US amid the ongoing uncertainty surrounding US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The business, which designs and manufactures luxury handbags, purses and other women’s accessories, said the tariffs the US government has placed on goods being imported from India could hit its bottom line by up to £1.3m.
Radley London said “carefully positioned” price increases in the US would be brought in to offset the rising costs – a move which is “fully expects” its competitors to mirror.
At the end of May, Trump’s tariffs plan was temporarily reinstated while a US court considers a White House appeal.
The ruling was made one day after a federal court blocked the US’s trade levies.
Three judges had previously ruled that Trump had overstepped his authority in imposing global tariffs and gave the White House 10 days to halt the import taxes.
The impact of Trump’s tariffs on Radley London has been revealed in the brand’s latest accounts which have just been filed with Companies House.
The results, for the 12 months to 27 April, 2024, show the firm’s turnover fell from £77.3m to £71.9m while its pre-tax loss was cut from £14.3m in the prior financial year to £9.3m.
The latest loss means Radley London has racked up almost £70m in pre-tax losses since it last reported a pre-tax profit – £6.1m for the year to April 2017.
In the year to April 2024, Radley London’s UK sales fell from £56m to £52.8m while its turnover in Europe, the Middle East and Africa slumped from £2.3m to £494,000.
Its sales in Asia Pacific also declined from £2.9m to £2m but its turnover in North America improved from £16m to £16.5m.
Radley London, which was founded in 1998 by Lowell Harder, is backed by private equity firm Freshstream while the likes of former CEO Justin Stead, CFO Jayne Worden and current CEO Nick Vance are also shareholders.
Radley London ‘in a position of strength’
A statement signed off by the board said: “Management has carried out a revenue and cashflow projection through to May 2026.
“Given the tough consumer environment, like-for-like sales reductions were assumed in certain channels, however the projections also include some prudent sales uplifts in relation to new sales channels recently opened or opening soon.”
Radley London said the assumptions resulted in a net sales increase of 10 per cent compared to the prior financial year.
The company added: “Management has considered the likely impact of USA import tariffs from goods produced in factories in India, which form the majority of the group’s supplier base.
“The Indian government is in active negotiations with the US government to mitigate the 10 per cent-26 per cent additional tariffs which are tabled, but in the event that no progress can be made management have estimated the potential impact on the group’s profitability, which is fairly limited and if left unmitigated is likely to be in the range of £500,000 to £1.3m in FY26 based on this range.
“Carefully positioned price increases in the US market will be implemented to offset these costs, which we fully expect our competitors to do the same.
“Radley is in a position of strength when considering value for money, which is an advantage to the brand if implementing price increases in the market which is forced to move in the same direction together.’
Radley London also confirmed that the UK-India trade deal, which was announced on 7 May, 2025, would provide a gross profit benefit of £400,000 in a full financial year.