Pretty Green targets international growth to counter Brexit

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 9, 2019

Liam Gallagher’s men’s fashion label Pretty Green is targeting faster growth abroad as it readies itself for a potential Brexit-linked slowdown in the UK and also reduces its losses.

The company has filed it latest set of accounts (for the 16 months to the end of January last year), and said it saw a “positive” period, despite the challenging times on the high street.

It enjoyed an increase in annualised revenues of 32% with growth coming both from the UK and from international markets. Total revenues for the period were £38.2 million.

It saw growth across both physical and virtual stores with the company currently having 13 stores and 19 concessions in the UK, plus its webstore and wholesale operation.

It said that “increasing efficiencies from [the] existing store portfolio” helped it to deliver higher sales densities, “increasing store revenues by 13%.”

And it continued to focus on building and developing its e-commerce platform and online customer base, which resulted in annualised sales rising by 83% in this area. 

Its adjusted Ebitda in the period rose to £1.9 million from £0.3 million a year earlier but its final figures still saw it making a loss, although the net loss was reduced, falling to £1.5 million from £5.6 million in the earlier period.

The company said its focus on growth abroad would help it to deal with any potential UK slowdown and that it wants to be “proactive to mitigate any associated risk” from Brexit.

But despite its recognition of the potential pitfalls ahead, it seems to be upbeat. In an interview connected to the results report, CEO Richard Ralph told the Standard: “I’m really pleased with the progress that Pretty Green continues to make. We are looking forward to launching a new collection that Liam has been working on in the next few months.”

Gallagher is the largest shareholder in the company that is known for its parkas and polo shirts.