New Look

New Look Retailers Ltd

Type	Private
Industry	Retailer
Founded	Taunton, England (1969)
Founder(s)	Tom Singh
Headquarters	Weymouth, Dorset, United Kingdom
Number of locations	1,000 (2010)
Area served	United Kingdom Republic of Ireland Belgium France Saudi Arabia Dubai Kuwait Egypt Bahrain United Arab Emirates The Netherlands Malta Russian Federation Singapore
Key people	Carl McPhail, Chief Executive
Products	Clothing Fashion
Revenue	GBP £1.147 Billion[1] (2008)
Operating income	£179 million (2008)
Employees	30,000 (worldwide) 17,000 (UK)
Website	www.newlook.com

New Look is a British global fashion retailer with a chain of high street shops in the UK, Belgium, France, The Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland, Malta, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

History

New Look was founded in 1969 in Taunton, Somerset by Tom Singh. Since then the company has rapidly expanded and now operates across a chain of over 1,000 stores internationally and a staff of over 30,000. The group had a turn over of £1,147 million in y/e 2008 with profits of £179 million.^[2]

In 2008 New Look continued its expansion in the UAE and opened its largest store to date in Liverpool One Shopping Centre. In 2009, its 40th anniversary year, it opened its first store in Russia in February 2009 ^[3]

In July 2010, New Look opened its Scottish flagship store in Glasgow Fort Shopping Park. The store is a massive 18,000 sq ft (1,700 m²). It was built on the site of a former Borders store.

The largest New Look store in the world opened in Dublin, Republic of Ireland on November 4, 2010 located at the Jervis Shopping Centre.^[4] It is the 29th New Look store in Ireland.

In 2004 after six years afloat the company withdrew from the stock market and was taken back to being a privately owned business by founder Tom Singh and chief executive Phil Wrigley, and private equity investors Permira, Apax Partners and Quillian Investments.

On 26 April 2007, a fire occurred at a New Look branch in Oxford Street, London. The subsequent investigation revealed an extensive catalogue of failings relating to fire safety precautions and measures. The company subsequently pleaded guilty to criminal charges and on 25 November 2009, was fined a total of £400,000 with £136,052 costs.^[5]

In 2010, the fines were upheld by the Court of Appeal.^[6]

Market

The retailer's core audience is women in the 16-30 year old age bracket; however in 2001 the retailer diversified into men's clothing which has now been implemented into over 20% of the chain.

Promotions

In 2007 New Look launched its first advertising campaign for three years. The same year it used online advertising for the first time and launched its transactional website, which went live in December 2007 and currently carries womenswear, menswear, Generation 915 for teens, kids, footwear, maternity, tall & Inspire (Sizes 18-26).

• 

  New Look Store - Exterior in Liverpool

• 

  New Look Store - Interior in Liverpool

• 

  New Look store inside the Merrywalks shopping precinct, Stroud, Gloucestershire

See also

• Top Track 100 - list of 100 largest private companies, New look is at no 32.

References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2008)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: New Look (retailer)

• New Look Website
• New Look Careers Website

News items

• New Look moves 250 jobs to London in January 2009
• New HQ in Weymouth in August 2007
• Newcastle-under-Lyme in July 2004
• Going private in February 2004