Fashion retailer In The Style has reported a number of job cuts during the full year as its losses narrowed but sales continued to tumble.
For the full-year to March 31, 2024, In The Style reported a loss before tax of £2.6m, down from a loss of £7.7m in the previous 12 months.
The latest accounts filed to Companies House also show that revenue at the fashion retailer fell from £45.9m to £30.4m during the year.
In the UK, sales at In The Style fell from £42.8m to £29m, while in the rest of Europe sales were down from £2.7m to £1.2m, and from £430,000 to £178,000 in the rest of the world.
In The Style said that despite “challenging macroeconomic conditions” during the year, its relationships with “key wholesale partners” remains “strong”.
The retailer added that its management is continuing to eye opportunities to “introduce retailers with a physical retail presence” following its in-store partnership with Tesco during the year.
In The Style said celebrity and influencer marketing remains “central” to its business proposition and that its newly launched ‘fits’ brand has performed well.
The fashion retailer continued: “FY24 was a year of realignment and resetting operating practices for In The Style with focus being given to creating robust unit economics on which to trade the business, right-sizing of the overhead and developing efficiencies arising from the wider group integration.
“Significant time investment has been made into our business intelligence and reporting suite to surface the right data on which to make robust trading decisions. Through the shift in the focus of the business from top-line sales to relentless obsession on net contribution margin, the business has been able to drive significant margin improvements despite a reduction in topline sales.
“With the ethos of ‘price or promotion’, reliance on heavy discounting has been reduced and a higher proportion of full price sales achieved. This has the benefit of improving the brand equity and reducing the sentiment of consumers waiting for the nex heavy discount period to purchase.
During the year, In The Style also dropped its total headcount from 170 to 140, following “significant steps to reduce operational overhead by investing in automation, clear strategic priorities and the removal of duplication fo task”.
This comes after the departure of founder Adam Frisby at the start of this year who stepped down from his role as chief executive after 10 years at the helm.
At the time, Frisby said he decided to step down after “months of reflection” and that the stress and pressure of running a business were at times “unimaginable”.
The news comes as In The Style could be set to return to the London Stock Exchange next year following reports of being in talks with London-listed Iconic Labs about a rumoured takeover of the business.
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