Fenwick calls in restructuring experts in face of cost pressures

British department store Fenwick is said to have appointed restructuring experts from AlixPartners to tackle increased cost pressures and other long-running financial challenges.

In a statement to FashionUnited, a spokesperson for the retailer said: "There are no plans for store closures. Like all retailers at the moment, we are keeping a close eye on our costs, especially in light of the tax and minimum wage increases in last October’s budget."

AlixPartners is working with Fenwick on a digital transformation and replatforming to improve efficients, including the moving of Fenwick's website to a Shopify-based platform, which will be completed in the coming weeks.

For the year to January 2024, Fenwick posted a pre-tax loss of 38.1 million pounds, which already came on the back of a 28.4 million pound loss in the year prior. This extended the company’s position in the red to six years, largely driven by challenging market conditions and high inflation.

Now, however, the company is on the cusp of a turnaround under the direction of executive deputy chairman, Mia Fenwick, and retail managing director, Hugo Fenwick.

In an attempt to bolster its balance sheet, Fenwick sold off its London-based Bond Street store in a 430 million pound deal, which it said would fund a “significant investment” into its online business and other stores. The Bond Street location closed early 2024. The company noted that it required fresh capital “in order to return the business to profitable growth”.

The retailer has seemingly pinned its hopes on the beauty sector, however, as evidenced by its rejuvenated beauty hall at its Newcastle location, where 163 brands are now housed. Upon its opening, Hazel Ayers, director of buying and merchandising at Fenwick, said the beauty hall demonstrated the “continual evolution of the Fenwick in-store customer experience”.

This article was updated March 18, 10:55 CET, to include a quote from Fenwick to FashionUnited, which was also provided with more context surrounding the company's ongoing turnaround plan.