Executive Summary
Best known for its camel, red and black check, Burberry Group is a global luxury brand with a rich heritage and uniquely British image. The Group designs, sources manufactures and distributes luxury apparel and accessories under the Burberry brand name, using both retail and wholesale channels. Products include clothing for men, women and children, handbags, scarves, leather goods and fragrances. The group also licenses its brand across several product categories to third parties, predominantly in Japan. As at end June 2008, Burberry had 97 retail stores globally, with 245 concessions, 41 outlets and 80 different stores operated under franchise. [1]
Burberry had year to March 2008 sales and EBITDA of £995m and £212m respectively (21.3% EBITDA margin).
Company History
- 1856 - Burberry was founded when 21-year-old Thomas Burberry opened his own store in Basingstoke.
- 1955 - Her Majesty the Queen first awards Burberry the Royal Warrant and the Company loses its independence when it is bought by Great Universal Stores (GUS).
- 1970 - Burberry opens a New York store.
- By the late Nineties, Burberry had fallen into decline and was becoming a stale brand, relying on tired core products, primarily outerwear plus some umbrellas and bags, selling to older men and tourists through indiscriminate wholesale distribution. [2]
- 1997 - Rose Marie Bravo was appointed as the new CEO and undertook a remarkable turnaroun, repositioning the business from a tired outerwear manufacturer to a luxury lifestyle brand. Under Bravo’s leadership, Burberry regained control of distribution, visibly improved and expanded the product offering by appointing designer Christopher Bailey (recruited from Gucci in 2001) [3] and increased marketing efforts through a series of high-profile advertising campaigns using top models such as Kate Moss and David Beckham. Bravo also pushed the company’s international expansion. The results of this turnaround were impressive - in the five years to June 2005, sales tripled to £716m and net profiits saw a fivefold jump to £116m.
- Burberry Group plc was initially floated on the London Stock Exchange in July 2002. [4] GUS spun off its remaining interest in Burberry in December 2005.
- With Burberry's revival came new challenges. The Company suffered a period of lower growth during 2005 and the first half of 2006, caused in part by the reduced popularity of its trademark check. The distinctive…
