Next warns over store 'closures' after losing £30 million legal battle

James Rodger
·2-min read
Next warns over store 'closures' after losing £30 million legal battle
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


Next has warned shops "will no longer be viable" after a legal battle - and could CLOSE. Next has lost a legal case over equal pay and is set to appeal against last month's verdict by the court which saw over 3,500 current and ex-employees win their claim after a six-year battle.

Lawyers at Leigh Day estimate that Next will need to pay £30 million in backdated wages to underpaid staff. On Thursday, bosses informed investors that the ruling could affect Next's ability to keep stores "individually profitable," possibly leading to branches shutting. Lord Wolfson, the brand's chief executive, warned that Next could be forced to shut down stores due to concerns over costs if the tribunal's ruling remains in place.

Back in August, an employment tribunal ruled that the retailer must pay its predominantly female store staff the same hourly rates as its mostly male warehouse workers. The company stated: “In the possible (but unlikely) event we lose this case on appeal, there will be a financial cost to the group and its ongoing future operating costs.”

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“Each of our stores is treated as a business in its own right, and must remain individually profitable if they are to open in the first place and continue trading at lease renewal. Inevitably some of our stores will no longer be viable if this ruling is upheld on appeal," it added.

“Materially increasing store operating costs will result in more shops being closed when their leases expire, and will materially impede our ability to open new stores going forward.” The firm also indicated that the case could impact the "viability of our warehouse operation" if it cannot increase pay for workers at these sites.

The company said its legal team was "very confident of our grounds for appeal", but stressed the process may not conclude for at least a year.

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