Shein records £1.5bn UK sales amid plan for HQ in heart of Manchester

Chinese online fashion retailer Shein has announced bumper sales following its plans to open a new HQ in Manchester.

On-track for a bumper IPO on the London Stock Exchange, the company has revealed revenue passed £1.5bn last year. This was up from the £1.12bn it achieved in 2022.

In a statement, the UK arm said a "milestone" for the year was setting up a UK base in Manchester, a city which is also home to rivals Boohoo and PrettyLittleThing, and Missguided, which it owns. It also opened pop-up shops to showcase products from its best-selling collections in cities including Liverpool.

Currently based in Salford, prior to a move into Manchester, the firm posted an annual profit of £18.7m, a significant rise from the £9.8m it made in the prior 12 months.

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The UK business had 33 employees last year, primarily involved in marketing, but the new office could reportedly pave the way for recruiting a bigger team and targeting expansion across the country. The results come as Shein is set to hold informal investor meetings in the coming weeks for its planned London IPO, pushing ahead with preparations as it awaits UK regulatory approval.

Shein confidentially filed papers with Britain's markets regulator in early June, kicking off the process for a potential London listing by the company later in the year A potential flotation has been estimated to value the business at about $66bn (£50.3bn).

It would mark one of the largest deals for the London Stock Exchange in a decade. The Chinese-founded company, which is now based in Singapore, has disrupted the fast-fashion industry by shipping cheap clothes direct from factories in China to UK and US-based shoppers.

Shein has long faced controversy over its environmental impact and worker conditions. Last year, US legislators called for the firm to be investigated over allegations that Uyghur forced labour was used in the production of some of its clothes.