Dr. Martens will give back the government aid received as part of the program created to help businesses during the pandemic. Why? Thanks to online sales, which continued to grow during the lockdown. “We made sure we had significant liquidity – stated the brand’s CEO Kenny Wilson – and to be able to pay everybody. When we saw that sales continued to grow we decided to give everything back”.
A positive period
The brand was close to changing ownership before the pandemic, passing from fund Permira to Carlyle. No further news have been received on this matter, and the British brand closed very positive fiscal year on March 31st, 2020. Dr. Martens increased revenue by 48% to 672.2 million UK pounds, while operating profits grew by 110% to 142.5 million pounds. Mr. Wilson stated to PA Media that the company achieved “global balanced performance: all main markets grew by double digits. The brand has achieved another strong growth year thanks to the strategic leadership that managed it, which places the consumer at the center and continues to invest in the business”. During the same interview the CEO stated he plans on replicating, for the current year as well, the program implemented the previous year, which consisted in opening between 15 and 16 new locations.
Dr. Martens will give back the government aid received
After a growth year, Dr. Martens’ sales didn’t stop with the shutdown of physical retail. Online sales more than compensated the lack of open stores, as from April to mid-August, revenue grew compared to the previous period of the year 2019. Mr. Wilson confirmed it to PA. According to him, “it’s morally right” to give back the received funds after it cut personnel from stores and the British manufacturing site. The company asked for funds to cover 80% of salaries of employees that were laid off due to the pandemic.
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