POPULAR fashion brand Seasalt has announced it’s weighing up a raft of job cuts to safeguard its future.
The decision by the Cornwall-based firm, which has over 60 outlets across the UK and Ireland, is another blow to the struggling UK High Street.
2
2
The company, based in Falmouth, said today the move was “in order to meet the challenges presented by an ever-changing retail industry” – and blamed increased tax burdens announced in the latest Budget.
It added there are significant concerns about the outlook for trading in the coming months and a declining positive customer sentiment and rising inflation rates.
Falmouth Packet reports the statement said: “As a business here at Seasalt, we are not immune to these very real concerns,” said the company statement.
“In order to meet the challenges presented by an ever-changing retail industry, the majority of those beyond our control, Seasalt must remain agile so that we can protect our business for the long-term.
“To continue investing in our growth plans, focusing predominantly on store and Partners expansion, and large-scale projects to enhance our operations, we have thoroughly reviewed our cost base, to ensure our expenditure is not outpacing our sales and equally achieve the growth that is essential to the viability of our business.
“This analysis has included looking at efficiencies and overall productivity, a transformation of our Head Office structure and a review of our Retail team operations, along with, where possible, reducing the expenditure necessary to realise our sales growth.
“As a result of the above, unfortunately, a number of roles will be placed at risk of redundancy across the business.
“We never take these incredibly difficult decisions lightly at Seasalt and give considerable thought to alternative options first. We will be offering our employees every support through the consultation process over the coming weeks.
“We have faced many unprecedented pressures over recent years and the measures that we take to mitigate these situations will always be in the best interests of securing the future of the business.”
Seasalt was an offshoot of the General Clothing Store, opened by Don Chadwick in 1981 in Adelaide Steet, Penzance.
It sold workwear to farmers, fishermen and artists before Don’s sons Neil, Leigh and David began to design their own fashion collections as Seasalt.
The Sun has contacted Seasalt for comment.
RETAIL PAIN IN 2025
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: “The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
“By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer’s household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020.”
#Popular #fashion #brand #announces #raft #job #cuts #safeguard #future #fresh #blow #high #street
Leave a Reply