Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Next places call for extra staff
RECRUITMENT DRIVEN BY BOOM IN DEMAND
FASHION giant Next is hiring extra call centre workers to cope with a jump in demand.
Boss Simon Wolfson admitted it was struggling with a flood of customers contacting it with everything from online orders to general queries.
“We need to recruit additional staff,” he said, with many based at home after it proved a success for existing workers forced to do so because of the coronavirus crisis.
Next has also been developing its Total Platform service which allows it to run other firms’ websites and back-end operations.
The new venture means other companies can pay Next to handle functions from online marketing and warehousing to call centres and more.
Wolfson played down its potential yesterday yet the firm has already tested Total Platform via the Little Label website for upmarket children’s clothes, which has grown into a £500m business.
It came as Next hiked its full-year profit guidance from £195million to £300m after better than expected half-year results.
Sales still tanked 33% but picked up in recent weeks, especially in retail parks.
The reopening of stores barely dented a surge in online sales, and strong demand for children’s clothes and homewares helped offset a slump in demand for suits and going out gear.
The quantity of clothes being returned is also down, Next added.
Wolfson said: “Everyone is looking for doom and disaster, and whilst we think sales in the second half of the year won’t be as good as in the past 13 weeks, we are not starting to worry.”