N Brown’s plus-sized deal with Amazon

THE owner of online fashion retailers Simply Be and Jacamo has joined forces with Amazon to sell its clothing.

N Brown, which owns the plus-size and men’s brands, is supplying a collection of up to 150 items in a bid to woo new customers.

The deal is the latest development in its transformation as it moves from a catalogue business to a serious online player, with web sales accounting for 72pc of its revenue in the first half of the year.

Sales across the group rose 5.6pc in the 26 weeks to September 2, with a 14pc rise in online sales. Mobile shopping also helped drive 76pc of online traffic.

But it was not enough to save the company from the effects of the weak pound, which pushed it to a loss of £27.6m, compared with a profit of £21.1m during the same period a year earlier.

As well as partnering with Amazon, N Brown said its Jacamo range will be sold by Debenhams.