Burberry salutes Yorkshire staff and Marcus Rashford tie up

The luxury fashion brand said over 160,000 items of PPE have been donated thanks to the swift and selfless action of its Castleford employees. This work coincided with Burberry’s decision to donate money to the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine last March.

Julie Brown, Burberry’s chief operating and chief financial officer, said: “Credit to our employees for this because they voluntarily, at the peak of the pandemic back in March, decided to come into Castleford to produce the gowns.

“We’ve now donated more than 160,000 pieces of PPE to the NHS and healthcare charities, which we’ve manufactured in Castleford.

“It’s a really big credit to our employees for doing this. It’s been a massive team effort and we’re very proud.”

Ms Brown said Burberry looked at a number of causes and decided to back the Oxford research.

“We made the contribution alongside the work we were doing in Castleford with the manufacturing of the gowns and surgical masks,” she said.

She was speaking as Burberry said it is well placed for growth when the pandemic eases after it announced a 9 per cent fall in like-for-like store sales over the festive period.

The firm, which has made its most iconic products in Castleford and Keighley in Yorkshire for over 100 years, said the fall reflected planned reductions in markdowns and reduced tourist traffic in outlets. This offset high single digit full-price sales growth in the 13 weeks to December 26.

Burberry has teamed up with English international footballer and youth advocate Marcus Rashford on a new initiative to support young people around the world, one of many Burberry initiatives that has resonated with younger shoppers.

Ms Brown said: “In November we launched our festive campaign, partnering with Marcus Rashford MBE, the English international footballer who has taken a prominent role against child poverty during the pandemic.

“The consumer response to our festive campaign was exceptional with engagement on Instagram more than double our second quarter average. Imagery featuring Marcus Rashford became our most liked Instagram post of all time.”

Burberry said full-price sales in leather and outerwear increased by more than 10 per cent and the group reported digital full-price sales growth of over 50 per cent.

The firm said there will be a Brexit hit, but it will be in the “low millions”. Burberry has seen delays and is dealing with short term issues although it did a lot of preparatory work and moved inventory before the end of the transition period. It said it is minimising the flow of product across the border.

Burberry has also warned over the impact of the move to scrap tax-free shopping for tourists.

The group, famous for its distinctive trench coats, said that while revenues will not see a big hit this financial year due to current travel restrictions, the impact will be more significant when tourist trade resumes.

It said sales are likely to shift away from the UK as a result and it is now looking at ways to soften the blow when tourists return to mainland Europe. The scheme allowing VAT-free shopping for tourists to the UK ended on January 1.