New Look today posted its full year results revealing its commercial properties have made good progress through against the backdrop of difficult economic conditions and lack of footfall on the high street.
The Group has maintained its position as number two in the UK women’s wear and accessories market and has recorded an improved performance in the second half of the year under the leadership of Alistair McGeorge, who joined the Group as Executive Chairman in May 2011.
New Look claims to have made considerable progress improving its price ranging and quality and expanding its customer base. The company has also addressed fundamental structural issues which have affected the entire retail sector. This includes recognising the importance of multi-channel shopping enabling its commercial properties to respond to changing customer habits. This has led to significant improvements in New Look’s online business.
At the same time, the company has been reviewing its store portfolio and concluded that it likely to require 50-100 fewer high street commercial properties in the future. However, New Look insists that shops will remain a vital part of their multi-channel operation and is currently trialling a new store concept designed to improve the shopping experience. This will be followed by a roll out across New Look’s commercial property holding with an initial 120 stores to be refurbished in the coming financial year.
The company expects the economic conditions to remain challenging but anticipates making further progress in the coming year. Welcoming the results, Alistair McGeorge said:
“Our long-term goal is sustainable growth and we have taken steps to address some of the issues with our capital structure. Clearly there is much that remains to be done, but we are confident that we now have the right strategy in place and are doing what is necessary to continue to make progress through this year and beyond.
“Our mission is to deliver exciting, authoritative, appealing fashion, at the right price every time, and across whichever channel is most convenient to our customers. This is the key to our future success.”
