N Brown news and archive

Founding shareholder of N Brown Group David Alliance dies

Lord David Alliance, a founding shareholder of fashion conglomerate N Brown Group, has passed away at the age of 93. The news was announced by N Brown in a press release. Alliance, who was described as a “life-long supporter of N Brown Group”, served on the Manchester-based company’s board as a director and, at one time, chairman for over 50...

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N Brown appoints first chief customer operations officer

UK-based online fashion retailer N Brown Group has appointed Clare Empson as its first chief customer operations officer. Empson, who joined the company in January 2024 as director of supply chain, will now oversee the entire customer journey, including supply chain, customer service, and customer insights. Commenting on Empson's promotion to...

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N Brown appoints new CEO of retail

British retail conglomerate N Brown Group has announced the appointment of Dene Jones as its new chief executive officer of retail. Jones, who is scheduled to take up the position from 1 February, will succeed Sarah Welsh, who is due to step down from the role after serving for five years. Upon entering the position, at which time he will also...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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...