Temperley London raises investment cash for expansion, slims losses

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 29, 2018

London Fashion Week stalwart Alice Temperley has raised £1.8 million from existing shareholders to boost her ambition to make Temperley London “a more coherent luxury lifestyle brand”.

The investors coming up with new cash include the designer/founder herself and banker Rupert Hambro, who are existing shareholders of the currently-lossmaking business.

The company had received earlier cash inflows of £3 million since 2015 and said the latest investment will be used to “support significant growth” at the label’s e-tail and wholesale businesses, This Is Money reported.

The 18-year-old company offers both a high-end line that has been a popular choice for upscale-boho-minded shoppers as well as for occasion dressing and bridal. It also markets a mid-priced line through John Lewis.

But it has struggled to return to growth in recent periods after it swung to a loss as far back as 2014. It lost £2.6 million in that year and last June it filed accounts for the year to December 2015 with the loss having widened. It reported a post-tax trading loss of £3.89 million and said it was repositioning the brand.

That included exiting its Los Angeles store, sharpening the focus of its Notting Hill, London, store to specialise in bridal, and sourcing more from Europe to boost quality and reduce transport and import costs.

Thos moves seem to have helped it improve its performance and revenues in the following year rose 5% to £11.7 million, while they grew 9% last year with pre-tax losses down to a slim £0.2 million.

As well as the Notting Hill location, Temperley currently has stores in London’s Mayfair and the giant Bicester Village outlet centre in Britain, as well as in Dubai and Qatar.