UK return to office earns husband and wife team Charles Tyrwhitt £21m

Clothing brand founder Nicholas Wheeler and his wife Chrissy Rucker benefited from a rebound in demand for suits and shirts

Husband and wife Last year Shirt maker Charles Tyrwhitt made a windfall of more than £21 million as the return to offices revived demand for tailoring.

Payout of £21.2 million for the year to July 2023 to founder Nicholas Wheeler and his wife Chrissy Rucker's first since 2020, latest reports show.

Of this, £11.7 million was paid to the couple during the year, and the remaining £9.5 million was used to repay a loan from a shirt manufacturer to the couple's holding company.

p>The shirt manufacturer is controlled by Mr Wheeler and Ms Rucker through their company Bectin Ltd. Ms Rucker founded The White Company, which is also owned by Bectin.

The payout comes after the retailer's sales jumped more than 45% last year to £269 million, significantly higher than pre-pandemic revenue of £189 million.

It comes as demand for shirts recovers as more companies look to recruit employers. being in the office regularly after the boom in remote work caused by Covid.

Recently, only a fifth of high-paying jobs offer flexible work options, according to employment firm Adzuna.

This meant that formal wear and tailoring companies experienced a renaissance. Suit retailer Moss Bros recently said its revenues rose by more than 30% in its last financial year.

This was seen as a rebuff to previous claims that people would no longer buy business clothes after the pandemic, according to M&S. the company stopped selling suits in many of its stores in 2021. It recently brought suits back into stores.

Charles Tyrwhitt said its sales had also been helped by expanding the range of items it sold, including more casual clothing. The company sells casual shirts and shorts, as well as smart shirt and suit collections.

Much of the revenue growth is driven by online sales, although the company says customers are returning to its stores as they «continue to recover» . , post-Covid restrictions.”

The retailer is expanding its operations by opening new stores: it had 30 stores at the end of July last year, up from 25 the previous year. Charles Tyrwhitt generates about half its income in the UK and half in the rest of the world.