Burberry poised to cut jobs as part of its turnaround strategy

The luxury retailer’s chief financial officer, Carol Fairweather, told journalists that “some headcount reduction” would take place as part of a plan to deliver £100m of cost savings over the next three years.     

Fairweather declined to say how many jobs at Burberry would be cut, or which departments the axe would fall on, but admitted the retailer was in “ongoing conversations” with different divisions across the business. 

She added the job cuts were an “inevitable consequence” of Burberry’s turnaround plan, insisting that all cost reductions would be focused on “taking out duplication and driving efficiency”.

Burberry’s move to cut jobs was revealed in the wake of its full-year results, which reported an 8% drop in pre-tax profits to £421m.  Like-for-like sales dipped 1%, driven by a slowdown in footfall in Hong Kong and Macau. 

Despite planned job cuts, Fairweather insisted that the retailer would continue to recruit across the business, including drafting in “experts in retailing or digital”.

However, she would not comment on speculation that the retailer plans to create a new senior management position to support chief executive Christopher Bailey.