Burberry's Castleford factory created more than 20,000 blankets for people left homeless by Ukraine conflict

A spokesman said Burberry, which makes its iconic products in Castleford and Keighley, is continuing to invest in its UK operations and remains committed to Yorkshire.

A spokesman told The Yorkshire Post: "Our local teams are doing well and have shown an incredible commitment to supporting communities – most recently, by creating more than 20,000 blankets for those impacted by the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine which we manufactured at our factory in Castleford, and with the support of our supply chain partners."

Burberry revealed that its Chinese business suffered in the last quarter as coronavirus restrictions were maintained in the country at a time when the business was able to reopen in much of the rest of the world.

The company said sales were down 35% in mainland China, compared to a 16% rise everywhere else.

The country is a major market for the fashion brand, meaning that the drop in China slowed global sales growth to just 1%, it said on Friday.

Jonathan Akeroyd, Chief Executive Officer, said: "Our performance in the quarter continued to be impacted by lockdowns in Mainland China but I was pleased to see our more localised approach drive recovery in EMEIA, where spending by local clients was above pre-pandemic levels.

"Our focus categories, leather goods and outerwear continued to perform well outside of Mainland China and our programme of brand activations boosted customer engagement. While the current macro-economic environment creates some near-term uncertainty, we are confident we can build on our platform for growth.”

Commenting on outlook, the company said; "We continue to target high-single digit revenue growth and 20% margins in the medium term. While the current macro-economic environment creates some near-term uncertainty, our performance in mainland China has been encouraging since our stores reopened in June and we are actively managing the headwind from inflation."

Richard Hunter, Head of Markets at interactive investor, commented: “Burberry’s trading progress has been hampered by another China crisis resulting from the country’s zero tolerance policy on Covid-19.

"The lack of Asian tourists coming to Europe in particular has been a bugbear for some considerable time, and the latest lockdowns in the region have inevitably had an impact. Asia Pacific sales overall declined by 16%, with sales in Mainland China dropping by 35% following store closures and lockdowns which also affected Burberry’s digital hub.

"The group must now hope that pent-up demand is now building again in China, and the early signs are tentatively encouraging. Even so, until such time as that economy can resume firing on all cylinders, the clouds will inevitably linger."