N Brown Group plc is an online retailer headquartered in Manchester, England. N Brown offers a range of products, predominantly clothing, footwear and homewares with a focus on underserved customer groups. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
History
The oldest company within the group - JD Williams & Company Ltd - was founded by James David Williams in 1859 when he started in business operating three mobile shops. In 1882, he took advantage of the introduction of UK's parcel post service, to send his company's products direct to his customers. In 1907, JD Williams instructed architect R Argile to build Langley Buildings in a baroque style on Dale Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter: this building still stands today. In 1963, All Williams' family shares were bought by Cooper-Taymil Ltd and placed in holding company N Brown Investments. In 1970, N Brown Group acquired JD Williams shares along with mail-order catalogues Ambrose Wilson and Oxendales. In 1986, N Brown Investments acquired the JD Williams group in a reverse takeover to secure a public quotation. The company name was changed to N Brown Group plc. In 2004, the business moved to new premises on Lever Street in Manchester's Northern Quarter. Lord Alliance stepped down as chairman in 2012 with Andrew Higginson joining that September. In 2014, N Brown outsourced 550 contact centre roles to Serco. That year it also issued two profit warnings within six months. Angela Spindler joined as Chief Executive in 2013, succeeding Alan White, who had been in the top job since 1984. In 2017, shares fell by as much as 9pc when N Brown announced it was facing a £40m hit after finding issues with a credit insurance product it sold to customers between 2006 and 2014, responding to a crackdown by the Financial Conduct Authority. In 2018, Matt Davies was announced as the new chairman of N Brown Group. In 2020, N Brown took a range of actions to retain cash after sales fell by 40%. It established a £50 million three-year lending facility under the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme supported by borrowers. It also broadened curtained covenants in its existing £125 million unsecured revolving credit facility in anticipation of the half-year test date of August 2020.
Brands
In 1999, Simply Be was launched to cater for women aged 25 - 45 in sizes 12 - 32 and has been a vocal champion of size inclusivity. In 2007, Jacamo was launched, catering for 25 - 45 year old men of all body shapes, from small to 5XL. Former cricketer Freddie Flintoff is a key brand ambassador. In 2018, JD Williams rebranded to become JD Williams: The Life Store, positioning the brand as a modern online department store for the 45 – 60 year old woman. Fashion World, Figleaves, Marisota, High & Mighty, Ambrose Wilson, Premier Man, Julipa and House of Bath are also operated by N Brown as well as the Ireland-based Oxendales. Simply Be and JD Williams also have US websites. The company bought online underwear retailer Figleaves for £11.5 million in 2010.
Stores
Simply Be, Jacamo and High & Mighty operate bricks & mortar stores throughout the UK. The company announced it was closing five loss-making stores in 2017. After announcing, in June 2018, that it was proposing to close all bricks and mortar stores, the company had completely implemented that decision by August 2018.
