Phil Clark

Many British retailers and brands are focusing or refocusing their efforts on the US market - fascinating reading....From ceramics to timepiece accessories to socks, niche British businesses are tapping into the high-end market across the Pond. Manhattan is a long way from the pottery kilns of Stoke-on-Trent, but the high-end China cups and saucers made by Richard Brendon look at home in New York’s famous Saks Fifth Avenue department store. The United States is now the eponymous tableware brand’s fastest-growing and largest retail market, with the entrepreneur, who received the 2024 King’s Award for Enterprise, broadly unfazed by the rumblings of a recession amid America’s slowing economy, with soaring unemployment and interest rates. “In the UK we’re at the top end of the luxury market,” Brendon said of a range that also includes crystal glassware that is stocked in Harrods, Fortnum & Mason, and Liberty. London. “In the US there’s more independent tableware retailers with a much higher average customer spend, so we have more options. It may not be the time for investment, but it still feels like the US is open for business, with the customer willing to pay.” #sellingintotheUS #britishcraftsmanship #britishbrands #usmarket

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MY COMPANY, Stroli, HAS REACHED £60K OF OUR TARGET TOTAL OF £200K RAISE.  We are journeying to become the de facto shopping bag brand in the UK and Europe. A market worth over $10bn globally, and forecast to grow 76% over the next 5 years. We will transition from #SEIS to #EIS at the end of the month. Drop me a DM if you want to know more about #investing in the opportunity created. In the meantime, I hope you find the below interesting. Why did we start with the shopping trolley as our first product range? The simple answer is, why not? My research proved correct. There has been a 33% increase since 2020 and John Lewis recently reported a 78% increase in YOY sales of shopping trolleys. But aren’t they just for old people I hear you ask? NO! We have three core audiences for this one product group, shown by the below top-line demographic groups: (I won’t go into the specifics of the psychographic breakdown here) 😀 Your ‘imagined’ target audience. The older generation and OAPs 😀 40s / 50s. Weekend glory chefs and those shopping local or hitting markets for the weekend’s dining.   😀 Millennials and Gen Z are fans of trolleys, and are a growing market. For those in doubt about the 3rd group, the below is taken from Anais Gallagher’s (Noel’s daughter) TikTok account. This is a non-paid, real customer giving their thoughts.  🚀We have launched our first product. 🆕We have new products ready for launch. 👟We have a basic proof of traction.  💪We have stress-tested our business processes. 📈We are ready to grow. 💰 We anticipate upwards of x20 returns. Come, join the Stroli revolution. 

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The result of the General Election ushers in a new chapter for the UK. As Sir Keir Starmer starts his first day in office, Walpole shares the key priorities we will be calling on policymakers in his government to consider: from taxation to trade, employment to environment, The British Luxury Manifesto outlines a summary of the policy changes businesses in our sector need to continue to thrive. The sector is projected to grow to between £105bn and £135bn by 2028. As such, it must be a key part of the government’s plan for growth. The policies in this document would push the sector towards the higher end of that projection, and in doing so would support highly skilled rewarding jobs, UK exports and inward investment. #britishluxury #walpole #generalelection #sirkeirstarmer #ukgrowth #ukgrowthdrivers #business #britishbusiness #labourgovernment https://lnkd.in/e2c98uwE

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Here are some interesting stories from the world of retail for Monday, June 3: 🏦 Online fast fashion firm SHEIN plans to file paperwork for a potential London share listing as soon as this week. An IPO could value the company at around $66bn (£51.7bn). 📱 TikTok has put on hold plans to launch its fast-growing e-commerce business across major European markets, focusing instead on growth in the US where it’s fighting a divest-or-ban law. 📺 Zara plans to expand its live shopping broadcasts to the UK, Europe, and the United States, following the success of its shows in China. The brand intends to launch the initiative between August and October. 💵 Many Americans are worn down by high inflation and interest rates. Companies that offer bargains and staples are reaping the rewards. Dollar General, Ross and Dollar General are examples of recent winners. 🎰 Japanese arcade chain Round One is expanding its presence in US malls, offering a unique combination of entertainment options - with LED-lit Japanese video games, bowling, karaoke, and Japanese food. 👟 ASICS Corporation, the 75-year-old Japanese sneaker brand, is having a moment. So are its shares. The running-shoe maker’s stock price has quadrupled in total return terms over the past two years. 🎮 Roaring Kitty post appears to show a big stake in GameStop. Shares have surged over the past month as influential trader Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty on X and YouTube, reappeared on social media. ✈️ The New Terminal One at JFK Airport is set to offer a spacious retail experience. The terminal will feature a Food Hall and Travel Essentials, with a strong emphasis on local New York brands. 🧾 More retailers like Safeway and Dollar General are rethinking their self-checkout strategies. Bay Area news station KTVU reported this week that a few Safeway locations closed down self-checkout because of theft. 🩴 In an attempt to capitalise on full-price sales and robust demand for its cork-based sandals and more recent closed-toe models, mostly at its own stores, BIRKENSTOCK increased its annual revenue and core profit projections. 🏬 Chinese lifestyle and consumer goods chain MINISO USA, which has more than 6,000 stores worldwide including two in Manhattan, signed a 5,000 square-foot lease at JEMB Realty’s 150 Broadway at Liberty Street, NYC. 👮🏽‍♀️ California lawmakers are pushing hard to pass legislation aimed at tackling rising retail crime across the Golden State before a coalition of community members advances their own agenda. 🌶️ Americans should prepare for a hot summer, and not just because of temperatures. Consumers are opening their palette to bolder, spicier, more fiery flavors and the marketplace for foods and drinks is happily obliging them. #retail #retailnews #economy #DailyRetailNews

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Thank you to Vogue Business for speaking to the British Fashion Council about our priorities for an incoming government to support #FashionsFuture. The next government, whoever it is, will be taking a leadership role at a crucial time for UK #Fashion Businesses. The retail landscape is shifting, there are growing markets internationally that UK designers must be able to access, and the EU has recently introduced significant sustainability regulation. All of these will require the support of the UK Government for British businesses to succeed. #UKElection #GeneralElection2024 #GE2024

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The CMA’s new anti-greenwash guidance in the UK is a welcome step to help drive greater compliance across fashion brands and retailers and root out misleading green claims. It’s indicative of the broader shift we’re seeing in the fashion industry, with sustainability becoming an operational imperative, rather than the voluntary, passion-driven cause of previous years. The fast-changing regulatory landscape that brands, retailers and manufacturers are having to navigate is complex – so guidance such as this, and support from organizations like Cascale, is vital to help companies comply with this new dawn of regulation. However, while we should applaud progress, this isn’t a moment to pause and pat ourselves on the back. The reality is the fashion industry isn’t doing enough to combat climate change, and compliance is the bare minimum. We must anticipate change and be proactive in improving our businesses for the better of people and the planet – right now. I challenge everyone to do better than the minimum. https://lnkd.in/e4VEB-m7

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When Karl Smith interviews Ken Pucker and Paul Foulkes-Arellano about SHEIN, expect some straight talking. This is my most frank condemnation of the fashion industry yet. “The fashion industry is perhaps the least aware of all industries of how and where it pollutes. There is amazing science happening in all kinds of polluting sectors. They will bring down their emissions by up to 90%,” Foulkes-Arellano concludes, before darkening what seemed like a rosier outlook and knocking off the tinted spectacles. “At that point fashion’s footprint will rise from 5% of global emissions (all textiles is 7%), to close to 11-12%, because fashion emissions are growing, not shrinking.” Read the full interview with Ken & me here: https://lnkd.in/egB_2twu

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A couple of weeks ago I spoke at the British Fashion Council IPF Forum exploring the future of the fashion industry in the UK. We discussed the skills required and the collaboration needed between brands, suppliers, and government. Something that I think is missing from the conversation on the future of work is about work culture and structures. It is about future-fit skills and how can we leverage AI, but it is also about how we want to work and what we need to do to enable that. The objective of our current work infrastructure is to achieve the maximum efficiency with the resources available with humans being one of those resources to extract value from. I would say the work culture has achieved its objective, but of course has caused a host of other problems along the way. If we were to set a new objective for work, what would it be given the world we’re in now and the future we hope to create? To create the conditions that enable individuals to thrive and contribute their gifts and skills? To solve the problems that are blocking people from having a good quality of life? To design solutions that heal and regenerate the target users in a way that is also healing and regenerative for those building the solution? What you would set as a new objective for the world of work?

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This just fills me with love and respect - Bravo - Complimenti - Brunello Cucinelli, whose fans have included Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, has created a £5 billion clothing empire, where his factory workers take siestas and are paid 20 per cent above average....While lesser labels — Burberry, in particular — have been struggling amid a cost of living crisis and slow demand from China, Brunello Cucinelli has kept churning out the highest quality profit growth for its shareholders on the Milan stock exchange. In its recent half-year figures, the company posted 19 per cent profit growth to €105 million and a 14 per cent increase in turnover to €620.7 million. The fact is, customers who happily drop £3,200 on the cotton men’s jacket currently featuring on the company’s website, never really feel the pinch, no matter how the rest of us are faring. Re the headquarters...And what a hill that is. Brunello Cucinelli lives in a grand house in a medieval hilltop village in Umbria, a region famed for its knitwear industry. A cluster of caramel-stone houses around an ancient castle, this is Solomeo, a place he has made a key part of the Brunello Cucinelli brand. The valley looks straight out of a renaissance painting. “E vero, Of course,” he says, “Perugino [the 15th-century artist who taught Raphael how to draw], painted here.” With his hand guiding the small of my back, he ushers me excitedly into the large, airy factory downstairs. I say “factory”, but it hardly looks like a factory at all. While there are dozens of Cucinelli-clad men and women stitching, tailoring and pressing garments, it feels more like a trendy open-plan office. Light floods in from huge floor to ceiling windows on all sides, each boasting a view of that delicious countryside.....“When we moved in, this place had no windows at all,” he says. “Like most factories, the idea was; if workers can see outside they will waste time looking. But that’s not natural. If I have a window and glance out 400 times a day, I waste 500 seconds but I live better. I become more creative as a consequence.” It isn’t just the windows. Cucinelli’s staff start at 8am and stop at 1pm for an hour and a half lunchbreak, when they eat, for a nominal €3 at the excellent canteen. Then, siesta. “Some go home to see their children, some take a nap, it’s up to them, but in my opinion it’s very important to rest,” he says. #italiancraftsmanship #cucinelli #leadership #luxuryandstyle

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Tapestry – which is fresh off a disappointing block from the FTC over its plans to acquire rival Capri Holdings Limited – reported that sales in the first quarter of 2025 (ended 28 September 2024) were in line with the same period a year prior, at $1.51 billion. In the context of the luxury slowdown and broader macro challenges, the steady results outperformed expectations, prompting Tapestry to slightly raise its outlook for 2025, sending shares up. https://lnkd.in/e9uYCQcS

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🚀 Retail Winners & Losers: The Changing Landscape Of The UK High Street Retail has been undergoing major shifts, and it's clear there are winners and losers emerging. I shared my insights with Anne Ashworth for the DailyMail.com 🔹 M&S is leading a successful turnaround, balancing design and digital innovation, while attracting both core and younger audiences. 🔹 Primark finally stepped into click & collect – but is it too late to compete with digital-first players like Shein? 🔹 John Lewis has struggled with cost-cutting measures impacting customer experience, raising questions about its ability to recover. 🔹 Next continues to thrive with a seamless online and in-store presence, supported by strong logistics and third-party brand partnerships. 🔹 Shein is continuing to disrupt fast fashion, overshadowing brands like H&M with its affordability and rapid product turnover, but raising sustainability concerns. Who are the big winners? Who’s lagging behind? 👇Sign up for my email list in the comments where I will be sharing more detailed insights. https://lnkd.in/eB4dcpv7

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The Berkshire Hathaway of 🇬🇧 retail? This is what one of my managers called Frasers Group. Given that it features prominently in two of my funds, I read the latest Financial Times Lex column with great interest: "Mike Ashley certainly likes to keep retail investors on their toes. In his latest move, the British sportswear tycoon wants to install himself at the head of boohoo and right the enfeebled fast-fashion retailer. This may smack of gall. It is not even a month since UK handbag maker Mulberry England spurned his takeover bid. Frasers — of which Ashley holds 73% — already owns 36.8% of Mulberry and around 27% of Boohoo. But here’s the thing. Even though Ashley’s scattergun stakebuilding has often thrown analysts and investors (its shopping spree has also extended to exposures to white goods retailer AO World, ASOS.com and HUGO BOSS), Frasers has become one of the sector’s top performers. Profit margins and growth are bested only by sector star 🌟 Next. The strength of Frasers, formerly Sports Direct, partly reflects an ability to learn from mistakes. A dust-up with the kings of sportswear, adidas and Nike saw the two brands withdraw products from Sports Direct stores last decade. The duo blanched at the retailer’s 'stack ‘em high, sell ‘em low' policy and walked. Frasers has since sought to reframe its relationship with brands. Sports Direct now has better displays, making it more appealing to those whose wares it sells. 💡Taking stakes in all manner of brands gives Frasers leverage too: a designer is less likely to flounce off when you also own a chunk of the shares. The nature of these holdings — bikes, make up and electronics sit alongside fashion — also affords diversification. Frasers has other strings to its bow. Its credit finance arm could deliver a £100mn earnings contribution in the long run, reckons Jefferies. None of this has come particularly cheap. But net debt stood at a modest £447.6mn at the end of the last financial year, around 0.6x ebitda. Many of the stakes were accumulated at depressed prices, reflecting retailers’ struggles as shoppers deserted high streets and, in 2020-2021, the pandemic shuttered shops. For sure Frasers is no slam dunk. Jittery consumers cast a pall over the whole retail sector. Some of its holdings have performed horribly: Boohoo shares are worth almost a tenth of where they were five years ago. China’s Shein is grabbing a chunk of the ecommerce market. Fast fashion is by definition at odds with sustainability trends. But with shares trading on a forward P/E multiple of 8.15 on S&P Capital IQ numbers, almost half that of Next, Frasers looks like a decent buy." (+++ Professional investors only. Opinions are my own. Not investment advice. Do your own research. Past performance is not indicative of future results.+++) #markets #investing #money #wealthmanagement #valueinvesting Tap the bell 🔔 to subscribe to my profile & you'll be notified when I post. 💸

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This isn't great news at all for the clothing industry, but it's as expected. Exports of clothing and footwear sold to EU countries have fallen from £7.4bn in 2019 to £2.7bn in 2023. The real victims of Brexit are the SMEs that don't have the resources to implement sophisticated customs planning strategies. Solutions are available but come at a cost, with increased administration and regulatory obligations. We are always on hand to help if you wish to explore these solutions. #Brexit #exports #supplychain #financedirectors #ukbusiness

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This morning I joined Abbie Morris Compare Ethics at Salesforce Tower to discuss the impact of upcoming legislation on fashion brands and retailers in the UK and EU. Speaking alongside David Leigh-Pemberton from the British Fashion Council and Rob Don from the Competition and Markets Authority, we discussed: ✅ Sustainability compliance doesn't have to be a burden - it should be seen as a competitive advantage 💭 Educating key stakeholders, getting buy in and influencing the C-Suite will be crucial when it comes to accelerating sustainability initiatives 🛑 Don't wait for compliance to come into force, get prepared now and embed product transparency as a key strategic priority 👟 Be proactive, identify gaps and develop a roadmap 💶 Make sustainability pay - develop initiatives that provide an ROI whether that be through improving efficiencies, reducing waste or establishing better connections with consumers through new retail models like repair services, re-sell and recycling - sustainability can be a triple win for business, compliance and the planet 🤝 Collaboration is key - the industry needs to work together to drive systemic change that will tick the compliance box while advancing sustainability and circularity long into the future #DPP #compliance #fashion #retail

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What's been happening in Sustainable Fashion this week? ⬇ 1) News just in, Tesco have announced they are set to introduce digital product passports across its F&F fashion range amid ESPR requirements from the EU. The DPPs will provide shoppers with more information about each items, such as where materials are sourced and where products are made. 2) Bangladesh is the world second largest garment exporter (after China), and is facing unrest since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned. Apparel factories have now resumed production following countrywide curfews, and a new leaders has been appointed. Industry experts urge brands to stand by apparel factories whilst they resume production schedules. Mostafiz Uddin has written a great article on how brands can support during this time https://lnkd.in/dMJXnXSm 3) Fashion for Good is launching a new initiative to drive footwear circularity - backed by partners including adidas, PVH Corp., Reformation, Target, Zalando and Inditex. The key areas of focus are: Materials, Design, End of Life and Traceability. 4) John Lewis & Partners have launched pre-loved Childrenswear in their Oxford Street store, in partnership with thelittleloop. Ranging from 0-6 year olds, prices start as low as £5 and customers can trade in outgrown clothes in return for store credit. 5) John Lewis & Partners have also launched a range of designer pre-loved handbags online in partnership with Sign of the Times - including CHANEL, Christian Dior Couture, Gucci, and Loewe. 6) Over in the US, Bloomingdale's have also collaborated with luxury resale platform Rebag to offer a 2,500 piece collection of pre-loved handbags, watches and fine jewellery on its e-commerce site, with in-store sales set to follow. 7) As industries collaborate to drive a circular economy - Airbnb have joined forced with By Rotation to offer complementary outfit rentals to Airbnb guests who stay in top wedding destinations including Spain, Italy and France. 8) Luxury pre-loved marketplace Reluxe Fashion, founded by Clare Richardson, has partnered with one of Scotland's most iconic hotels Gleneagles, to offer a curated edit of preloved pieces from brands such as CHANEL, CELINE and Hermès. 9) In repair news, United Repair Centre are rolling out their partnership with lululemon in Europe and the UK. Meanwhile, adidas have launched 'Choose to Repair' pilot programme in the UK in partnership with The Seam. 10) Finally for this week - British fashion brand Baukjen & Isabella Oliver (House of Baukjen) has been recognised as the highest scoring fashion SME B Corp Globally (B Lab). Their B Corp status is 153.6 - joining the top 5 global fashion B Corp companies including @patagonia. 🔗 Links to articles in comments Brought to you by enkel www.thisisenkel.com Image: Baukjen

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Part of the ongoing challenges for British and other non-EU companies trying to do business with the EU, our closest market and near-shore supply chain source. Great article in the FT and well done to NouvelleBox for demystifying this issue for jewellers. As the article says, this is not about discrimination, it is about the customs authorities in the EU27 applying the laws of the country. In France there is a requirement for all companies carrying and selling precious metals to register with the authorities and have the correct hallmarks for France. The UK hallmark in and of itself is no longer accepted in the EU post Brexit. The same would apply for exporters to Italy, Spain etc. Having an ATA Carnet is an important start but HM Customs need to look at the vagaries of processing ATA Carnets at St Pancras - I have seen these vagaries with my own eyes and the system is generally not working for British exporters. https://on.ft.com/4exuVOq

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Will Shein sell shares directly to British public in £50bn London listing? Street talk is that Chinese fast fashion giant Shein may sell shares directly to the British public as part of a £50bn stock market flotation in London. The company is in the early stages of examining a possible sale to retail investors alongside City institutions, sources said. Such a move would be unusual — companies typically sell large chunks of their stock to banks, pension funds and asset managers when they list on the stock market, with individual investors only able to buy shares on the open market once trading begins. Shein’s bankers, which include JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, are understood to be running the rule over proposals to sell directly to the public, although the plans are at an early stage and no decision has been taken. A retail offer could see Shein shares offered to its Gen Z customers, of which there are many, or a broader range of retail investors through specialised platforms. The plans are being looked at as Shein considers whether to push ahead with a London listing.  The company took the first step at the end of June when it filed paperwork with the Financial Conduct Authority. It has also filed paperwork with Chinese regulators. Talk is the retailer is  exploring plans for its first British warehouse, as part of efforts to address complaints that it pays lower taxes than rivals by shipping orders directly from China. If Shein floated, and it is still a big if, it would be the largest listing in London ever, topping the £36bn debut of miner Glencore in 2011. Shein was valued at $66bn (£50bn) in May 2023 after it raised $2bn. #shein #glencore #listing #retail #genz #pensionfunds

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