River Island at risk of collapse as high street favourite takes drastic action
River Island has appointed advisers from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to draw up a plan in a bid to save the company's 230 High Street branches. The clothing retailer, which employs 5,500 people, is taking action after reporting £32.2 million losses for 2023.
PwC will draw up a formal restructuring plan in a bid to prevent the chain closing down, reports Sky. River Island has been part of the UK landscape since 1948.
It was founded by Bernard Lewis and was originally called Lewis and Chelsea Girl. It is now run by CEO Ben Lewis, nephew of Bernard Lewis, who took over in February having previously held the post for 10 years before stepping down in 2019.
The company has already made redundancies at its head office in London in departments including buying, merchandising and HR. In 2023, the company saw a 15 per cent drop in sales and a 19 per cent fall in turnover after making £7.5million profit in 2022.
In its latest accounts, River Island Holdings Limited said: "The market for retailing of fashion clothing is fast changing with customer preferences for more diverse, convenient and speedier shopping journeys and with increasing competition especially in the digital space.
"The key business risks for the group are the pressures of a highly competitive and changing retail environment combined with increased economic uncertainty.
"A number of geopolitical events have resulted in continuing supply chain disruption as well as energy, labour and food price increases, driving inflation and interest rates higher and resulting in weaker disposable income and lower consumer confidence."
Bernard Leiws originally started his business as a fruit and veg stall in Notting Hill, using a site bombed during World War Two. It quickly became The Wool Shop then a chain of nine stores called Lewis Seperates with its first in-house designed clothes on sale from 1950.
The chain rebranded as Chelsea Girl in 1970 and became River Island in 1988. It opened its first overseas branches in 1993 and was one of the first brands to start selling online.
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