'Boom time' for Boohoo as fashion e-retailer shrugs off pandemic

Online fashion firm Boohoo will this week show that it has been boom time through the pandemic when it releases strong full-year numbers.

Bosses will also look to reassure investors over the company’s corporate governance practices in the wake of criticism over pay and working conditions at factories supplying some of its products.

The firm is expected to benefit from a widening of its customer reach having agreed a £25.2 million deal in February to buy the Dorothy Perkins, Wallis and Burton brands.

The business said that it would buy all the e-commerce and digital assets of the three brands, which entered administration in December along with the rest of Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia, as well as their inventory.

Boohoo, which also owns Pretty Little Thing, has become one of the most successful online fashion brands.

Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at financial services group Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “It’s been boom time for Boohoo through the pandemic, as shoppers switched from physical to virtual shopping baskets, lured by the e-retailer’s cheap prices. Boohoo’s nimble supply chain has allowed it to update its ranges in rapid time when tastes changed from going out attire to staying in styles.

“But its fast fashion strategy saw the group make headlines for all the wrong reasons, after a supply chain scandal erupted over working conditions at its Leicester factories. Although customers have largely shrugged off the crisis, the company has tried to show its putting corporate governance front and centre, trying to improve its ethical credentials.

“We’ll be keeping a keen eye out for any further updates about its supply chain review.”

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