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Fashion retailer Quiz has seen its losses widen to £9.6m for the year ending 31 March 2021 compared with a previous year’s loss of £3.1m.
Revenue also dropped by 66.4% to £39.7m from £118m in 2020 and reflects the impact of the prolonged lockdowns and curtailment of social occasions through the period.
In response to the challenges of Covid-19, in June 2020, the group undertook a restructuring of its store portfolio with the purpose to secure an “economically viable store portfolio” that, going forward, was aligned to the business’s strategy.
Following the restructuring, 16 stores permanently closed, leaving 66 in operation across the UK. In addition to the store restructuring the business also reduced its dependence on third parties, with a “significant fall” in the number of concessions, further to the closure of Debenhams and Outfit stores, and the number of third-party websites operated.
Tarak Ramzan, founder and CEO, said: “Against a backdrop of highly challenging trading conditions during the year, we have taken decisive actions to position the business to return to long-term profitable growth, including reducing the size of our store estate, decreasing costs, and maintaining very tight cash management.
“We have continued to invest in our own e-commerce channels as we optimise our omni-channel model. We remain confident in the strength and appeal of QUIZ as an occasion wear led brand, as has been evidenced by the increase in demand and positive trends across our operational KPIs as social events returned during the summer.”
He added: “This continues to underpin the board’s confidence in our ability to continue to improve performance and achieve profitable growth as more normal trading patterns return.”
