Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Despite challenges Boohoo boss remains on track to grow brand

Despite challenges Boohoo boss remains on track to grow brand

RECOVERING from challenges and controversies was tough for Boohoo boss John Lyttle, but he remains committed to grow the online fast-fashion brand, The Times reported.

"It was tough. There’s no point in saying it was easy, it was tough,” he said about the past year.


Lyttle, 54, managed the firm through the pandemic, dealt with the sudden death of his 20-year-old son and a scandal about alleged illegal conditions in Boohoo's Leicester supply chain.

Despite all these challenges, the online retailer grew 41 per cent last year.

“...we managed our way through Covid, we had all the media and investor attention last summer but we also acquired six new brands, opened two warehouses and a London office . . . As I keep telling people, ‘If you want to grow you’re gonna have to take on operations like that',” he said.

“Boohoo works on speed. We can replenish within days and weeks so even if we get something totally wrong, it’s not a disaster,” Lyttle added.

Cofounded by Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane in 2006, Boohoo became an online platform of 13 fashion brands last year, compared with the one womenswear brand  when it was floated in 2014.

He scoffed at the rhetoric that online retail is responsible for the decline of the high street, the newspaper said.

“It’s like saying the motorcar is destroying the horse and cart. Things are progressing and everyone has to progress with that,” he added.

Meanwhile, Boohoo suffered a big blow when an investigation revealed textile workers were paid £3.50 an hour in unsafe conditions in Leicester.

A report by Alison Levitt QC, commissioned and made public by the retailer, underlined that senior bosses knew about the unacceptable working conditions and poor treatment of workers.

He added that the Boohoo’s decision to make the report public highlights the company’s commitment to fix the problem.

Boohoo strategy

“If we get something totally wrong, it’s not a disaster,” Lyttle said of Boohoo’s strategy.

He further said the company had already started to fix its UK supply chain before the issue came to limelight, but the pandemic delayed its efforts.

“The issue we really had was unauthorised subcontracting. We should have had better controls on that, that was the big issue,” he added.

To fix the problem, Boohoo culled its Leicester supply chain. It dropped more than 60, and is currently working with 66 larger factories that can work more effectively at one place.

The firm used to make 50 per cent of its clothes in the UK a few years ago, which has now shrunk to 20 per cent. It now relies more on overseas suppliers that can accommodate its rapid growth.

Moreover, Boohoo is building a “model factory” in Leicester this year to prove that it is possible to manufacture in the UK and pay staff a fair wage.

“There will always be something that we could have done quicker, there’ll always be something that needs a bit more time and effort. But it’s about how we approach it and how we learn as we grow,” he added.

More For You

JLR Tata

A logo is pictured outside a Jaguar Land Rover new car show room in Tonbridge, south east England.

JLR Q1 sales dip as US tariffs hit exports

Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported a 10.7 per cent drop in sales for the April–June quarter, as a temporary pause in shipments to the United States and the phase-out of Jaguar’s legacy models weighed on volumes.

The company, owned by India’s Tata Motors, sold 87,286 units to dealers worldwide during the quarter, compared to 97,755 units in the same period last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

Workers are engaged at their sewing stations in a garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 9, 2025. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

BANGLADESH, the world's second-biggest garment manufacturer, aims to strike a trade deal with the US before Donald Trump's punishing tariffs kick in next week, said the country's top commerce official.

Dhaka is proposing to buy Boeing planes and boost imports of US wheat, cotton and oil in a bid to reduce the trade deficit, which Trump used as the reason for imposing painful levies in his "Liberation Day" announcement.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Bond yields ease following Starmer’s support for Reeves

THE COST of UK government borrowing fell on Thursday, partially reversing the rise seen after Chancellor Rachel Reeves became emotional during Prime Minister’s Questions.

The yield on 10-year government bonds dropped to 4.55 per cent, down from 4.61 per cent the previous day. The pound also recovered slightly to $1.3668 (around £1.00), though it did not regain all its earlier losses.

Keep ReadingShow less
modi-trump-getty
Modi shakes hands with Trump before a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on February 25, 2020. (Photo: Getty Images)
Getty Images

Indian exporters watch closely as Trump says trade deal with India likely

THE US could reach a trade deal with India that would help American companies compete more easily in the Indian market and reduce tariff rates, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday. However, he cast doubt on a similar deal with Japan.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he believed India was ready to lower trade barriers, potentially paving the way for an agreement that would avoid the 26 per cent tariff rate he had announced on April 2 and paused until July 9.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

Customers shop for 'Kolhapuri' sandals, an Indian ethnic footwear, at a store in New Delhi, India, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

INDIAN footwear sellers and artisans are tapping into nationalist pride stoked by the Prada 'sandal scandal' in a bid to boost sales of ethnic slippers with history dating back to the 12th century, raising hopes of reviving a struggling craft.

Sales are surging over the past week for the 'Kolhapuri' sandals that have garnered global attention after Prada sparked a controversy by showcasing similar designs in Milan, without initially crediting the footwear's origins.

Keep ReadingShow less