Boohoo staff have been told to swap the grey tracksuit bottoms for the office wardrobe, as chief executive Dan Finley defends his decision to bring the online fashion group’s entire corporate workforce back in five days a week.
Finley, who has led a turnaround at the Manchester-based retailer since 2024, said its 1,500 head office employees should not be “sat in bed with grey tracksuit bottoms on” but in the workplace, wearing and testing the clothes the business produces and collaborating face to face with colleagues.
For a fashion company, he argued, physical presence carries a particular weight: products need to be tried on, trends need to be observed, and that simply cannot happen from the sofa. Finley, who claims to wear only clothing made or sold by the group, added that working in Manchester should be “celebrated”, with staff out and about “living and breathing” the city, attending events, meeting people and socialising after work.
The chief executive believes younger employees, who make up a significant share of both Boohoo’s workforce and its customer base, stand to gain most from being physically present, learning from senior colleagues and building the professional relationships that are difficult to replicate over a video call.
Founded in Manchester in 2006 by Mahmud Kamani and Carol Kane, Boohoo built its name on trend-led fast fashion, accessories and beauty, and now counts Karen Millen and Debenhams among its brands. The group, which has moved to rebrand as Debenhams Group as part of a wider marketplace push, is in the middle of a major restructuring to cut debt and recover from falling sales, driven by fierce competition from ultra-fast fashion rivals Shein and Temu.
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