“Since the outbreak of COVID-19, our priority has been the safety and wellbeing of our employees, our customers and our communities. While we continue to take mitigating actions to contain our costs and protect our financial position, we are also committed to safeguarding jobs and supporting the relief efforts during this global health emergency. I would like to thank our teams for their continued determination and resilience as we continue Thomas Burberry's legacy of protecting others and caring for the community,” said Marco Gobbetti, chief executive officer of Burberry.

The company has decided to take a number of additional steps to support its priorities over the next few months. Like, it will continue to maintain base pay for all employees who are unable to fulfil their roles because of store or site closures. It will not rely on government support for jobs in the UK where more than a third of its employees are based.

Burberry’s senior leaders will take a voluntary 20 per cent pay cut from April through June. The board of directors has agreed to a voluntary 20 per cent reduction in their base salary and fees from April through June, with the equivalent cash amount to be donated to the Burberry Foundation COVID-19 Community Fund. The fund, which was established earlier this month for the employees to support communities in need globally, is additional to the financial donations Burberry has made to vaccine research and charities alleviating food poverty, with monies going towards procuring and distributing PPE, helping foodbanks and supporting healthcare charities around the world.

Burberry’s trench coat factory in Castleford is now manufacturing non-surgical gowns and supplying them to the UK National Health Service. It is also sourcing surgical masks through its supply chain and supplying them to the NHS and charities such as Marie Curie, which provides nursing care for families living with terminal illness in the UK. To date, it has donated more than 100,000 pieces of PPE.

Recognising the unprecedented challenges faced by companies and their auditors in preparing audited financial statements in the current environment, Burberry has agreed with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP that it will publish its Preliminary Results for the year ended March 28, 

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (PC)