Burberry to keep paying furloughed staff during Covid-19 crisis
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Burberry today said it will keep paying employees who are unable to work because of store or site closures during the coronavirus crisis.
The luxury brand said it would not make use of the government’s furlough scheme — which pays 80 per cent of salaries for non-working staff — for jobs in the UK, where more than a third of its employees are based.
Burberry, which last month warned the pandemic would reduce fourth-quarter sales by 30 per cent, said it would instead look to reduce costs by cutting spend in non-essential areas.
The fashion house said executives and directors would take a 20 per cent pay cut between April and June, with the fees donated to a charity fund.
Shares in Burberry were down more than 2.5 per cent this morning.
Burberry has been forced to shutter all its UK stores as a result of the lockdown as the country battles to halt the spread of the virus.
However, the designer has begun producing protective gowns at its trench coat factory in Castleford to support efforts to increase personal protective equipment (PPE) provisions for healthcare workers.
It is also sourcing surgical masks through its supply chain and donating them to the NHS and charities such as Marie Curie.
To date Burberry has donated more than 100,000 pieces of PPE.