To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

New Look Could Shut Up To 100 Of Its Stores On The High Street

New Look Could Shut Up To 100 Of Its Stores On The High Street

The fashion brand has been cutting back costs to improve on profitability in recent months.

Rachel Andrews

Rachel Andrews

New Look could close almost 100 of its clothing stores in an attempt to help it survive on the high street.

This means that up to a sixth of the fashion brand's shops could close their doors in a revamp designed to cut back costs and improve profitability across the company.

The business confirmed that 85 of its stores had closed or were in the process of closing, and another 13 more could shut.

PA Images

And 26 of its shops trade rent-free, with New Look or the landlords being able to end this deal at anytime.

Creditors approved New Look's plans to shut 60 stores and cut 1,000 jobs in March this year.

These new plans mean that many more employees could lose their jobs on top of the cuts already.

Reports suggest another 800 jobs could be lost.

The chain is trying to move employees to new roles within the company where possible.

Sales recently fell for the company by 3.7 per cent - although that figure was an improvement on 8.6 per cent for the same time period last year.

New Look has seen a huge boost in its profits recently, as it improved from a loss of £10.4 million last year to a profit of £22.2 million.

PA Images

Executive chairman Alistair McGeorge said: "Clearly the wider retail environment remains challenging and we are not expecting that to change anytime soon.

"However, we are on the right track and continue to drive further efficiencies across the business."

New Look tried to improve its profitability with more full-price sales as well as an expanded online operation to offer customers more choice.

This helped the fashion brand to save £70 million, and it believes it can save another £8 million, although it's unclear where these cuts would be.

New Look is reviewing its international operations, and has already pulled out of China where it had 100 stores.

Featured Image Credit: PA Images

Topics: Life News, Shopping, News, Style News, Fashion News, Real, Fashion