Burberry to cut up to 1700 jobs worldwide

Burberry (BRBY.L) has unveiled plans to axe nearly a fifth of its global workforce, including UK factory workers, in a bid to slash costs and return to profit

The London-based luxury fashion brand has announced proposals to cut about 1,700 jobs worldwide over the next two years.

The majority of reductions are set to come from head office-based teams around the world, led by the UK where there is a bigger proportion of employees.

Changing shift patterns to focus on meeting demand during busy hours will also result in some retail job losses.

It is proposing to drop the night shift at its Castleford facility in West Yorkshire, which makes its staple trench coats that sell from about £1,000 to £10,000 apiece.

This is expected to affect about 25% of roles, which is believed to amount to around 150 jobs, ahead of plans to renovate the factory.

Burberry chief executive Joshua Schulman said: “For a long time we have had overcapacity at that facility, and that is simply not sustainable.

“But I want to be very clear that we are making this change to safeguard our UK manufacturing, and in fact we will be making a significant investment to renovate this factory in the second half.

“Our intention is that we make our British heritage raincoats in the UK for many generations for come.”

Burberry hired about 9,170 employees around the world last year, so reducing about 1,700 roles would equate to about 18.5% of its total workforce.