Boohoo’s PrettyLittleThing looks to expand HQ

The fast fashion retailer has submitted an application to expand its Wellington Mill headquarters on Pollard Street East in Manchester by almost 10,000 sq ft, putting plans to relocate to a 65,000 sq ft base at nearby Ancoats Works on ice.

PrettyLittleThing won approval last March for a project to convert Ancoats Works, a former warehouse currently used as industrial space, into offices. It had appointed architecture studio Jenkins Design Services to refurbish and redesign the space.

Ancoats Works is owned by Kamani Property Group, a holding company for property owned by the Kamani family, which co-founded Boohoo Group and listed it on the stock exchange in 2014.

However, PrettyLittleThing, which was wholly acquired by Boohoo Group earlier this year, is now seeking to expand its existing offices by creating a 9,500 sq ft extension on the roof of Wellington Mill. The plan is intended to address an immediate need for space while the company reassess its plans to relocate.

The extension could accommodate around 200 additional staff, according to the planning documents. 

Jenkins Design Services has been retained to advise on this project. 

PrettyLittleThing is one of seven brands owned and operated by Boohoo, with the others being Boohoo Man, Nasty Gal and MissPap. 

Boohoo, founded in 2006 by Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane, has been mired in controversy in recent weeks after a report from Labour Behind the Label, an organisation that lobbies for better working conditions for garment makers, raised concerns about working conditions at one of the garment factories in the company’s supply chain.  

Later, an undercover reporter from the Sunday Times exposed allegedly illegal pay and working conditions among staff at the Leicester factory. The story prompted a Government investigation and probes are ongoing. 

 

 

 

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