Welcome to ‘Agility amid Uncertainty’ our latest podcast in partnership with international logistics company Advanced Supply Chain Group. In this series we will explore how six leading fashion retailers are managing their businesses in the face of some of the greatest disruption the world has experienced in a lifetime.
When it comes to an example of Olympic-level agility in times of uncertainty, you would be hard pressed to find a better example than Boohoo Group. While some of the high street’s biggest names floundered and, in many cases collapsed, the Manchester-based group took full advantage to press forward with its plans to create a digital-first, global fashion force.
In 2006 Boohoo Group started out with just one brand; today it has 13, around half of which were acquired during the pandemic. In the Spring of 2020 it acquired the collapsed Warehouse and Oasis brands, and in early 2021 it snapped up Dororthy Perkins, Burton and Wallis from the former Arcadia Group (as well as a major warehouse in Daventry), along with the Debenhams brand and website.
All of these brands were relaunched as digital first entities in a matter of months and the man working behind the scenes to ensure everything ran smoothly, as well as dealing with new COVID regulations and a global supply chain crisis, is the group’s Supply Chain Director David James.
David joined the Boohoo Group three years ago from value fashion giant Primark where he speaks to Lauretta Roberts, Editor in Chief of TheIndustry.fashion about how the group coped with fluctuating demand and external market forces beyond its control. He also explains how the business learns lessons from each challenge to help it prepare for peaks and troughs in trading on an ongoing basis.
Listen to episode one of this series feat. Mint Velvet' here.
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