River Island calls in PwC to work on restructuring plan, some stores could close – report

Back in January River island is believed to have drafted in consultants from AlixPartners “to focus on profit improvement” . And now, almost six months later, it has reportedly drafted in PwC to take it a stage further.

Sky News reported that it’s working on a formal, court-supervised, restructuring plan and that the 230-store chain that employs 5,500 could be bracing for significant store closures and job cuts.

The Lewis family that founded and still owns the business has called in the advisers will make some tough decisions once the proposals, which are expected to be finalised “within weeks”, are in. Sources said no firm decisions about the future of the business have been made yet.

The most recent accounts filed by the company, which has evolved from Lewis to Chelsea Girl to River Island during its 77-year history,  were for the 2023 financial year and showed it making a pre-tax loss of more than £32 million with turnover falling in double digits. Its next accounts (for 2024) are due by the end of September.

Any restructuring plan could help it overcome the prolonged period of difficulty and make it easier to shed underperforming stores. 

In its latest set of accounts, River Island warned of a tough market for it. This has been affecting a wide range of fashion retailers and is due to factors such as consumer preferences evolving, supply chain disruption, and inflation affecting energy and labour costs as well as impacting consumer spending.

A spokesperson for River Island didn’t comment on the Sky report.