Superdry to cut jobs at head office amid £50m cost-cutting plan
Under-pressure fashion group Superdry has confirmed today that it is to slash jobs at its head office as part of a major cost-cutting plan.
More than 100 jobs are facing the axe, predominantly at the firm’s headquarters in Cheltenham, in the wake of the company's announcement late last year that it is looking to save £50m by 2022.
While the precise number of cuts has not yet been finalised, it is expected that between 100 and 200 jobs will be axed.
Read more: Ex-Superdry boss Dunkerton calls shareholder meeting
Responding to today’s news, which was first reported in the Evening Standard, Superdry said in a statement: "As announced at our interim results in December, we have embarked on a cost transformation programme. As part of that, we have started a process of consultation with colleagues about how it will impact our central head office functions."
The news come as the retailer’s management is fighting off stiff criticism from its co-founder Julian Dunkerton, who is currently seeking to return to the company as a non-executive director.
Last week Dunkerton, the founder and former chief of the troubled designer, requisitioned a shareholder meeting in a bid to muscle back on to the firm’s board.
Superdry's boss Euan Sutherland is also facing a swathe of industry-wide challenges, with the retailer posting a dip in sales over the crucial Christmas trading period, citing unseasonably warm weather for a fall in demand for the fashion group’s flagship Japanese winter hoodies.
Read more: Superdry points finger at warm weather for cooling winter sales
The British fashion group, which has seen its shares crash 70 per cent in the last 12 months, said its performance in the three months to 26 January had been "subdued", with a fall in both its online and in-store sales.
Group sales at the retailer slipped 1.5 per cent to £269m during the quarter, falling from £273m when compared with the same period in the previous year.
Online sales dipped by 0.7 per cent while store sales tumbled 8.5 per cent.
However, Superdry, which cut its full-year profit expectations in the run-up to Christmas, said it had traded in line with City expectations for the quarter.