LONDON, Aug 12 — British online fashion group Boohoo said Thursday that it plans to create 5,000 jobs over five years, more than doubling the number of employees after the pandemic fuelled online shopping.

The new jobs, on top of around 3,500 already employed by the group, will be a result of expansion to its warehousing and new IT systems, Boohoo said in a statement.

Boohoo added that it plans to invest £500 million (RM2.93 billion) on its UK operations over the next five years.

"The investments will help the company continue the incredible growth it has experienced since launching 15 years ago, expanding from a single brand in 2006 to a group of 13 world class brands today,” it added.

Boohoo in January bought the intellectual property assets of collapsed UK department store Debenhams, allowing it to use its brand.

Since the start of the year, it has also bought key fashion brands Burton, Wallis and Dorothy Perkins from Arcadia.

Both Arcadia and Debenhams collapsed at the end of last year, having struggled to compete with online fashion brands like Boohoo long before the Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdowns forced their eventual demise.

The past year has not been all good news for Boohoo however after it was hit by allegations that one of its suppliers in England paid workers much less than the national minimum wage.

Boohoo suppliers were meanwhile accused also of underpaying staff in Pakistan. — AFP