Online Retailer Celebrates 15th Anniversary By Announcing £500m Investment Plan To Meet Growing Demand
MANCHESTER, England, Aug. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Online retailer boohoo group plc has outlined plans to create 5,000 new jobs off the back of an investment programme worth over £500 million across the UK over the next five years. The investments will help the company continue the incredible growth it has experienced since launching 15 years ago, expanding from a single brand in 2006 to a group of 13 world class brands today.
The automation system at boohoo group's main distribution hub in Burnley
The control centre managing the automation system at boohoo group's main distribution hub in Burnley
A member of the team in the boohoo group's distribution hub in Burnley
The boohoo Group has added £559.4 Million in value to the UK economy. Representing 4.4% of the total UK Clothing and footwear retail sector
The boohoo group, which is rooted in the north of England with a Manchester HQ, has a growing global appeal, with c.50% of its sales now coming from international markets such as the USA and Australia. In order to meet this increased demand, boohoo has set out its plans to secure additional warehouse space and invest in 'smart IT solutions' which will help its processes to become more efficient.
The announcement on jobs and investment is set out in boohoo's 'Economic Impact Report', published today, which details the current and historic gross value added ("GVA"[1] ) that boohoo contributes and has contributed to the UK's economy.
The report identifies the scale of the group's contributions, including:
In the financial year 2020/21, the group's operations added £559.4m in GVA to the UK, supporting an estimated 8,050 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs
The GVA figure (£559.4m) equates to around 4.4% of the total UK clothing and footwear retail sector
Since 2009, the group's operations have added almost £2bn in GVA to the UK's economy
For every job directly created by the Group, a further 1.7 jobs are created in the wider economy
The Economic Impact Report also outlines the importance of the group's activities in supporting British job creation. In logistics, for example, the group employs 7,000 people at four distribution centres in the UK and ships between 190,000 and 230,000 parcels a day. These parcels are handled by 13 main courier companies and supported an estimated 1,660 jobs in the financial year 2020/21.
The report also highlights the regional impacts of the group's operations, with 94% of the jobs and economic benefit created by boohoo group taking place outside of London. Burnley is home to the group's international distribution centre and Manchester is where the company's head office is located. Across the north west, the group contributed £309 million in GVA to the regional economy and – as of January 2021 – employed 3,208 people in the region.
Finally, the report also covers how boohoo group is working to ensure secure and stable employment for people. In the last financial year, the group moved over 1,400 agency colleagues from its warehouse teams onto permanent boohoo contracts, where they are able to share in the full benefits package which includes; generous pension scheme, competitive pay rates (that don't differentiate between age groups) and more including a free annual share allocation.
Speaking about the report, boohoo group CEO John Lyttle said:
"The growth this business has experienced over the last 15 years has been phenomenal. It has not been without its challenges, but it is right to celebrate the significant contributions the company makes to the towns and communities where we operate. The investments we have planned will help us to continue our growth, increasing our customer base both at home and abroad, adding even more value as we do so.
"All of this has only been possible because of the amazing people who form our boohoo family. I am so proud of the way they rise to every challenge and I look forward to growing together as we cement our position as leaders in global fashion e-commerce."
What is GVA? Gross Value Added is a widely used term for measuring the economic contribution of businesses. It includes the direct contribution, indirect contribution and inferred contribution of the money businesses and their employees spend. It is calculated as the difference between the value of output and the value of intermediate consumption.
TAX As a British business, we know that the taxes we pay support the critical national infrastructure that we rely on to operate. That's why we keep our tax arrangements simple and avoid complicated tax structures.
Since 2013, we have paid over £36m in corporation tax alone. In 2020/21, this payment was worth £10.465m to HMRC. We have paid over £39m in national insurance since 2009, with £8.8m in 2020/21. We are proud that our growth gives back to the country we are a part of and we are committed to making a positive contribution to the UK.
HOW WE KNOW THIS This report is based on an analysis carried out by Development Economics Ltd at the request of boohoo group plc.
The report highlights and quantifies where possible the direct and wider economic contribution made by the boohoo group to the UK economy over the company's 2021 financial year (March 2020 – February 2021).
In this report, the primary measures of economic impact attributable to boohoo group plc are:
the contributions to the production of national (UK) economic output – as measured in terms of Gross Value Added (GVA)[1]; and
the contribution to job creation throughout the UK economy.
The quantified estimates of economic impact provided in this report consider the contribution of boohoo group plc at three levels:
Direct effects
Indirect effects
Induced effects.
Each of these components is summarised in brief below:
The first of these levels is the direct contribution of boohoo group plc through the provision of employee jobs and the value added via its distribution network and at its headquarters and other office facilities.
The second level is the jobs and value added created throughout the portion of the company's supply chain that is located in the UK economy. These effects occur via purchases made by boohoo group plc from other UK businesses and UK-located establishments that enable the group to operate and provide services to its customers. These jobs supported in the supply chain are usually termed indirect impacts. However, procurement expenditure on goods and services originating from outside the UK is treated as a leakage from the UK economy, and deducted from the consideration of overall direct, indirect, and induced effects at a UK level.
The third level of quantified analysis are the jobs and value added created in the wider UK economy as a result of boohoo group's workforce – both those directly employed, and those jobs located in the supply chain that are dependent on the relationship with boohoo group plc – spending their wages and other earnings. The additional jobs created through the workings of these multiplier effects are termed induced impacts.
Taken together, the sum of these three effects – direct, indirect, and induced – combine to generate the overall quantifiable impact of boohoo group plc on the UK economy.
[1] Gross Value Added is an internationally recognised and used measure of the value of goods and services produced by a business. It is calculated as the difference between the value of output and the value of intermediate consumption.
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