British luxury fashion brand Mulberry plans to reduce employee count by nearly a quarter across its global business. Most of the brand’s stores were closed since March 24. However, it has now reopened some of its stores in China, South Korea, and parts of Europe and Canada. Restructuring of workforce is another dent in what was supposed to be a big year ahead of Mulberry’s 50th anniversary in 2021, in preparation for which it had considered moving more of its manufacturing to the UK as part of a sustainability push.

The brand reported a net loss of £10m in the six months to September 2019 on sales of £69m. International revenues, led by Asia, grew in the double digits, but were offset by a 4 per cent decline in the UK. However, Mulberry continues to conduct business in all markets through its digital channels. So far, its digital sales performance has been good though it cannot fully offset the fall in demand witnessed from store closures.