All Fat Face articles
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NewsTed Baker moves forward with sale as Fat Face recruits bankers
Both Ted Baker and Fat Face have made advances in their searches for a buyer.
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Data
Data: Number of newly appointed retail CEOs falls to lowest level in 10 years
Only 18 new retail CEOs were appointed in the UK last year, marking a 54% drop from 2020.
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News
Marks & Spencer adds new fashion brands to online stable
M&S is to introduce six more fashion brands to its online platform as it builds its ecommerce operations.
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Prospect Analysis
Fat Face (Overview)
Fat Face is a multichannel lifestyle retailer offering its own brand of good quality, casual clothing, footwear and accessories. It is headed up by former CFO Will Crumbie from late 2021 after former boss Liz Evans stepped down.
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Prospect Analysis
Fat Face (SWOT)
The decision not to go ahead with the planned listing back in 2014 meant that forward plans had to be scaled back, while debt has risen to unsustainable levels. This necessitated a major financial restructuring in 2020 through which ownership of the brand was transferred to its lenders in a debt-for-equity swap.
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Prospect Analysis
Fat Face (Strategy)
Multichannel development is the current focus for Fat Face, which passed ownership to its lenders via a debt for equity swap in late 2020.
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Prospect Analysis
Stores at Fat Face
Stores play a critical role in Fat Face’s multichannel strategy. The company is aiming to increase its UK selling space from 375,000 sq ft to 450,000. An increasingly integrated approach enables Fat Face to operate across a wide range of locations.
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Prospect Analysis
Technology strategy at Fat Face
With the retailer looking at going multichannel across several territories, its IT architecture needs to support these ambitions. Recent investment has focused on replatforming onto Salesforce Commerce Cloud and joining up all systems.
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Prospect Analysis
Fat Face (Financials)
Group sales fell 18% to £198.2m in year to May 2020 hit by the impact of Covid-19, with core UK sales falling 16.7% to £187.5m. Online remained relatively robust, accounting for 28% of total sales. The company refinanced and slashed borrowings in a debt-for-equity swap in late 2020 to secure the future of its business.
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Prospect Analysis
Fat Face (People)
Former CFO Will Crumbie stepped up to the CEO role in September 2021, replacing former boss Liz Evans who left the business to take charge at George at Asda.
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Prospect Analysis
Ecommerce at Fat Face
Fat Face aims to grow ecommerce to at least 30% of its business by 2025. Priorities include personalisation, convenience, optimising the product range and targeting new markets.
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Prospect Analysis
Customer and marketing at Fat Face
Fat Face has established a strong niche as a lifestyle clothing brand. The company has a distinct and highly recognisable brand image centred on five key characteristics: authentic, British, fun, relaxed/casual and family. It aims to reinforce its brand image through a high-quality product offer backed up by first-class customer service.
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Prospect Analysis
Supply chain at Fat Face
Fat Face has expanded its distribution facilities to increase sales capacity. It is sourcing more products closer to home, buying more in-season and improving its transitional ranges. Prologic is used for back office systems and JDA RedPrairie for warehouse management.
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Prospect Analysis
Fat Face (Outlook)
The retailer has acknowledged that the enforced closure of all its stores during lockdown had a “significant impact on the trade and operations of the group” and this resulted in an 18% decline in revenue in the year to May 2020. The company is now working to a number of scenarios going forward but states that its business is ‘robust’ and that trading ‘exceeded expectations’.
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News
John Lewis adds 30 new brands to ‘modernise’ offer
John Lewis has added more than 30 third-party brands to its autumn/winter range across clothing, accessories and beauty.
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News
Sainsbury’s and Fat Face launch concession partnership
Sainsbury’s has launched a concession tie-up with Fat Face as it ramps up efforts to bring third-party retailers and services into its larger stores.
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Be Inspired
Be Inspired: Lessons in resilience
In the unpredictable world of retail, chief executives and Be Inspired ambassadors Liz Evans, Suzanne Harlow and Jill Ross explain why resilience is the best tool in your belt.
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News
Fat Face snaps up Drapers editor for marketing role
Lifestyle retailer Fat Face has poached the editor of Drapers to take up a new marketing and communications director role.
