Burberry set to bring 300 jobs to Leeds
Fashion house Burberry has committed to Leeds with the announcement of business services centre to be launched in the city.
The new Burberry office will transfer 300 jobs in the city, “strengthening its ties with Yorkshire”.
Subject to consultation with employees, the office, which will open in October, will bring together UK and EMEIA shared service teams from Finance, HR and Procurement, as well as some Customer Service and IT roles.
Burberry intends to simplify its processes with the centre of excellence. Moving roles to Leeds will also generate significant savings for the business. It will allow Burberry to reduce its office space requirements in London where the company will remain headquartered.
The proposals are part of plans to deliver £100m of savings per year by 2019.
Christopher Bailey, chief creative and chief executive officer of Burberry Group, commented:”This is an important move for Burberry as we continue to deliver on the strategic priorities we outlined last year. In addition to the benefits it will bring to the business, opening an office in Leeds reinforces our commitment to the UK and to Yorkshire, home of our iconic trench coat.”
Roger Marsh OBE, Chair of Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) which worked with Burberry to support the business case for this new office commented:“It’s fantastic to see Burberry commit its future to the City Region and recognise the strength of our professional services offer and our heritage within the textiles industry. I’m delighted that the LEP were able to work closely with one of the world’s most recognisable brands to ensure it selected the region as the location for its new centre of excellence for business services.
“Today’s announcement comes as our City Region is seeing increased levels of interest from FTSE 100 companies who see benefits such as increased productivity as a result of relocating here.
“I look forward to working with Burberry in the future and further developing our longstanding relationship with this British icon!”
Councillor Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council, said:“This is fantastic news and a real vote of confidence in Leeds as a place to do business. It’s hugely exciting that we are the clear choice for Burberry to locate their newly-created shared service centre. It is testament to the value of Leeds as a destination for financial and professional services with the right infrastructure of skills, innovation and digital excellence to support that.
“We have a long and valued relationship with Burberry and will continue to work with them constructively as they continue to assess their plans for a manufacturing and weaving facility here.”
