Clarks cuts over 1,200 jobs as sales fall by almost £100m
Clarks cut more than 1,200 jobs as its sales slumped by almost £100m during its latest financial year, it has been revealed.
The Somerset-headquartered shoe retailer has reported a revenue of £901.3m for 2024, down from the £994.5m it achieved in 2023.
New accounts filed with Companies House also show that Clarks’ headcount fell from 7,413 to 6,161 in the 12 months while it posted a pre-tax loss of £39.2m
The latest deficit comes after Clarks fell to a pre-tax loss of £39.8m in the prior 12 months.
The chain last reported a pre-tax profit when it posted a total of £35.9m for the 48 weeks to the end of 2022.
In its latest accounts, Clarks said an impairment of £32.1m of right-of-use assets and store property plant and equipment “significantly impacted” its results.
It added that its “focus is to return to sustainable sales growth combined with a cost-focused attitude to delivery healthy store profitability in 2025”.
Morning Wire exclusively revealed in April 2024 that the chief executive of Clarks, Jon Ram, had resigned after two years in the role.
Clarks is currently being led by an interim executive committee as a new CEO has not yet been appointed.
Clarks cuts costs to ‘fix the foundations for our future’
A statement signed off by the board said: “2024 was a year of transition within the business, as internal and external factors created a variety of challenges.
“Externally we were faced with challenging global market conditions.
“With a high number of major elections taking place in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, India, the European Union and several emerging markets, businesses and consumers faced uncertainty regarding potential shifts n trade policies, regulatory frameworks and fiscal strategies.
“This had a significant impact on the economy, driving volatility in financial markets, influencing investment decisions and shaping economic policies.
“Coming on the back of continuing major conflicts and inflationary pressures, this led to reduced consumer demand in 2024.
“FY24 has therefore been a year of tradition for the Clarks Group with cost rationalisation and reduction to fix the foundations for our future.
“Significant changes have been made to the operations in the year to right size the overhead cost for the current business size, refocus the marketing approach, reposition the product assortment and set up the business for recovery and sustainable profitable growth in 2025.”