Joules secures £15m credit increase

Fashion and lifestyle retailer Joules has confirmed the completion of a £15m increase to its revolving credit facility, to help the company cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The credit boost, agreed with Barclays, follows a share placing earlier this month that raised £15m.

Joules has already taken a number of measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, including scrapping its interim dividend and cutting its staff, supplier and rent costs.

The measures already taken, combined with a reinforced balance sheet would allow the company to emerge well from the crisis. The group’s net debt position on 19 April 2020 was £6.9m with £43.1m of available headroom.

Today, Joules said its online sales were ahead of original forecasts, with customer engagement was strong across all social media channels.

Joules’ online operations remain open with appropriate new safety measures put into place in the company's warehouse. Online sales usually account for half of the group’s overall retail sales.

Chief executive Nick Jones said: "The completion of the additional facility with Barclays Bank plc provides Joules with further liquidity to navigate these challenging times and positions the business to continue to progress its strategic growth plans following the current period of significant disruption.

"Our e-commerce sales over recent weeks continue to demonstrate the strength of the Joules brand and the loyalty of our customer base.

"We know that further challenging times are ahead, but we are confident that, with the continued support of our colleagues, customers and the wider Joules community of suppliers and partners, Joules is well positioned to manage these challenges."