Burberry may cut 1,700 jobs globally to reduce costs as profits fall

Lauren Almeida and Sarah Butler

Wed, May 14, 2025, 1:01 AM 3 min read

Burberry has said it could chopped 1,700 jobs worldwide by 2027 – including removing the full nighttime displacement astatine its Yorkshire raincoat mill – arsenic the struggling manner location ramps up its efforts to slash costs aft a tumble successful profit.

The British luxury marque announced the occupation cuts connected Wednesday aft reporting a 117% autumn successful its yearly pre-tax profits successful the past fiscal year. It recorded a £66m loss, down from a nett of £383m, arsenic the institution has struggled against a broader malaise successful the planetary luxury goods industry.

The institution has said a caller program to find £60m successful outgo savings could impact 1,700 jobs astir its planetary offices. Burberry employed astir 9,300 radical crossed the satellite past year, truthful the cuts could impact astir a 5th of its staff.

Joshua Schulman, the main enforcement of Burberry, said astir of the cuts would beryllium astatine the group’s caput offices astir the satellite – led by London – but jobs would besides spell by reorganising unit rotas successful stores and dropping 1 displacement astatine its factory successful Castleford.

He said the alteration successful Castleford, which is expected to impact astir 150 jobs, came up of a “significant investment” successful the 2nd fractional of this twelvemonth successful the factory.

“For a agelong clip we person had overcapacity astatine that installation and that’s simply not sustainable astatine this point,” helium said. “We are making this alteration to safeguard our UK manufacturing and volition beryllium making a important concern successful renovating the mill [later this fiscal year].”

The manner house, which is champion known for its signature trench coats, has struggled successful caller years due to the fact that of a anemic luxury marketplace and a hard marque revamp project. The institution hired Schulman, the erstwhile brag of the US manner marque Coach, arsenic main enforcement past twelvemonth successful an effort to revive its fortunes.

The caller program to chopped costs is connected apical of a £40m savings programme that Schulman announced successful November. Burberry shares bounced by arsenic overmuch arsenic 8.6% connected Wednesday morning.

Schulman said helium was “more optimistic than ever that Burberry’s champion days are ahead”, though helium admitted the archetypal fractional of the past fiscal twelvemonth had been challenging. Overall gross successful its fiscal twelvemonth ending connected 29 March dropped by 15%, stripping retired the interaction of overseas speech rates.

Charlie Huggins of the concern broker Wealth Club said the 2025 play had been an “annus horribilis” for Burberry.

“Luxury consumers crossed the globe importantly tightened their belts hitting the full luxury sector. But Burberry has seen much interaction than most,” helium said. “Its operational execution has near a batch to beryllium desired successful caller years and the marque has mislaid its lustre, compounding the wider sector’s issues.”