Debenhams Sustainability Report

Introducing Our New CEO

Sergio Bucher joined Debenhams on 17 October 2016. From 2013 until joining our company, Sergio served as Vice President, Amazon Fashion Europe, leading Amazon’s growth to become one of the largest fashion retailers in Europe. Previously he was General Manager, Retail and e-commerce Worldwide, at Puma, and prior to that held retail roles at Nike and Inditex, where he led the start-up of its lingerie retail brand, Oysho.

Our business strategy

Delivering a compelling customer proposition

Debenhams offers a unique combination of exclusive brands, designer brands and international brands across multiple product categories, offering choice and innovation in fashion, accessories, beauty and homewares. Our own brands, including our exclusive Designer ranges, account for half our sales, we have market-leading positions in the premium beauty sector, occasionwear and accessories, and through our concession partners we offer an edit of the best of the high street.

Increasing availability and choice through multi-channel

We have aligned management of stores and online so that we can offer our customers a seamless shopping experience as they increasingly shop using more than one channel. 15% of Group gross transaction value (“GTV”) is generated online, and a third of online orders are collected from our stores. We have continued to invest to give our customers top quality service whichever channels they choose to use.

Focusing on UK retail

We are increasing the choice of brands and services in our UK stores, giving our customers more of the brands they want to buy that we were not already selling and introducing services, such as new cafes and restaurants in the growing casual dining market, that drive traffic to our stores.

Expanding the brand internationally

We have a multi-strand and capital-light approach to international expansion, with own-operated multi-channel businesses in the Republic of Ireland and Denmark; a network of 68 franchise stores with partners across the Middle East, Eastern Europe and South East Asia; an online proposition shipping to more than 60 countries; and a developing brand wholesaling business.

Investing in operational and organisational effectiveness

We are building infrastructure that is sustainable and fit for future growth, to enable Debenhams to exploit the continuing channel shifts in UK retail and drive international growth in a cost effective way. We are part way through a multi-year investment programme in systems and automation that will bring efficiency savings to our business.

Click here to read more about our business strategy.