UPMARKET fashion brand Mulberry is cutting its workforce by a quarter after demand for its luxury products collapsed because of coronavirus.
The firm, which is famous for its handbags, said it had launched a consultation on plans to reduce its global workforce of 1500 by 25%.
Mulberry, which has outlets in Edinburgh and Glasgow, said most of its stores had remained closed since it first shut them in March as the pandemic was declared.
It has recently reopened some in China, South Korea, Europe and Canada and will reopen a number in the UK next week.
The retailer said digital sales had been “good” during the lockdown, but it “cannot fully offset the decrease in demand experienced from store closures”.
Mulberry proposed job cuts as it expected social distancing measures, lower footfall and fewer tourists to continue to hit revenues.
Chief executive Thierry Andretta said: “In spite of the good performance of our sector-leading digital and omni-channel platform, and our global network of digital concessions, the shutting of all our physical stores has had, and will continue to have, a marked effect on our business.”
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