Oliver Bonas gets funding to see it through crisis period

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 29, 2020

Oliver Bonas has secured a vital lifeline loan to see it through the current crisis period with the fashion and lifestyle retailer having secured £3.5 million of additional funding from HSBC. It’s guaranteed by the government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

The company has been expanding fast in recent years and in 2019 opened a raft of new UK stores, including sites at Westquay, Liverpool One and Gatwick Airport. But it had to close all of its locations during the lockdown and therefore made use of furlough schemes in Britain and Ireland to pay its staff. 

While the firm continued to trade online, its physical shops are responsible for the most of its revenue so sales will have been muted, although it hasn’t given any update on the exact percentages. The company had moved fast to make the most of lockdown web sales but said recent months have been “challenging”.

Around half of its 80 shops have reopened so far.

The company’s new funding is helping it to manage its way through the changing retail environment and adapt to a world in which online is even more important.