N Brown news and archive

N Brown receives FCA approval to go private

N Brown has received watchdog approval in its pursuit of becoming a private company through a proposed acquisition by Bidco, a newly formed company owned and controlled by Joshua Alliance, a non-executive director of the British fashion group. The takeover has been given backing by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), allowing for proceedings...

Business

N Brown adopts ‘dissolvable packaging’ into supply chain

Retail group N Brown has revealed that it will be replacing its plastic packaging with a product that comes “without any risk of contamination”. The parent company of JD Williams, Jacamo and Simply Be said it will be utilising Polymax powered by HydropolTM, in order to reduce its overall use of plastic across all of its brands. According to the...

Business

N Brown to be taken private through 191 million pounds deal

Bidco, a newly formed company owned and controlled by Joshua Alliance, will acquire fashion retailer N Brown for approximately 191 million pounds. The company has offered 40p per share in cash compared with N Brown’s closing price of 27p yesterday. The Alliance family already owns around 60 percent of N Brown’s total shares. Bidco said in a...

Business

N Brown improves profit in the first half

N Brown improved first half adjusted EBITDA by 7.4 percent to 18.8 million pounds and adjusted EBITDA margin by 0.9 ppts to 6.8 percent. Adjusted profit before tax of 3.6 million pounds, increased from 0.1 million pounds in H124, while statutory profit before tax of 0.2 million pounds was an improvement from a loss of 2.8 million pounds last...

Business

N Brown reveals new website for JD Williams as part of wider transformation

N Brown has completed its transformation strategy aimed at rolling out new websites for its brand portfolio, with the final website launch being for its womenswear label JD Williams. The wrapping of the online relaunches marks what the company said was an “important milestone” in its digital transformation, which had been a strategic priority...

Business

N Brown sales decline 9.8 percent but profits rise

N Brown’s full year adjusted EBITDA margin of 7.9 percent was broadly in line with FY23, while group revenue decreased 9.8 percent to 600.9 million pounds, reflecting the continued challenging market conditions and a focus on driving profitable sales. The company said in a statement that full year adjusted group gross profit margin increased...

People

N Brown CEO joins Currys board

Steve Johnson, the chief executive officer of fashion group N Brown, is set to join the board of electrical retailer Currys from June 1. Johnson, who initially joined N Brown in early 2016, has served as the company’s CEO since February 2019 and has been interim executive chair from May 2024. Prior to N Brown, which owns the likes of JD...

People

N Brown chairman Ron McMillan to retire

N Brown has announced that Ron McMillan will be retiring as chair and stepping down from the board with effect from April 30, 2024, for personal reasons. McMillan has been on the N Brown board for 11 years. The company’s board has decided to appoint Steve Johnson, following McMillan's departure, as interim executive chair and chief executive...

BusinessFeatured

Q1 of 2024 marked by series of job cuts

The first quarter of the year has outlined the tough reality of the current market, with last year’s challenging financial period leaving many companies with no option but to initiate strategic reviews. And, as part of this process, inevitably the question of jobs comes into play, with roles, departments and geographies coming under the...

Business

N Brown reportedly set to cut 35 jobs amid transformation strategy

British fashion conglomerate N Brown Group is said to be preparing to cut a number of roles at its head office in Manchester amid its ongoing transformation programme. While an exact figure could not be confirmed, it is believed that around 35 jobs are at risk of redundancy, according to Drapers, which initially reported the news. Commenting on...

Business

N Brown introduces product management system to reduce returns

British fashion and homeware retailer N Brown Group has announced the launch of a new Product Information Management (PIM) system designed to enhance the customer experience. Through PIM, N Brown said that it wants to provide customers with “better product descriptions across product display pages”, including the realm of sizing and fit. In...

Business

N Brown gets SBTi approval for near-term GHG targets

Fashion retail conglomerate N Brown Group has said that its near-term science-based targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been approved by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). By 2030, the company has committed to reduce scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions from its operations by 46 percent from a 2021 base year. While scope 1...