Influential: Reality star Georgia Toffolo poses for Shein
Fast fashion giant Shein is planning to set up a new office in Manchester as it plots a UK expansion.
The firm will build the new site, which will be its first outside London, and initially hire a team of 15 staff next year, The Mail on Sunday understands.
Roles at the Manchester office, where recruitment has begun, are thought to be focused on clothing buyers and designers targeting the UK and Europe.
The company already has around 40 staff in the capital.
Plans for a Manchester hub come as Shein, pronounced ‘she-in’, has seen business boom in the UK with sales of £1.1billion for the 16 months to the end of December 2022.
The company, which was founded in 2012 in Nanjing, China, and is now headquartered in Singapore, saw sales surge during the pandemic as it rode a wave of shoppers buying online during lockdown.
Shein already sources some of its garments from Manchester and Leicester, the UK’s two main hubs for textile manufacturing, and as such an expanded operation in the North West could pave the way for more production to move into Britain and away from China.
Its acquisition of brand Missguided last month is also likely to be a boon for the firm as it will gain access to valuable customer data and shopping habits that can be used to target new customers.
Shein is a staple for many British young women – with prices for tops and dresses from £5. But the firm has faced intense criticism, particularly around its labour practices of treatment of workers in China as well as wider concerns about the environmental impact of fast fashion.
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