Primark puts foot down with new stores despite £800m pandemic hit

For shoppers it’s the crack cocaine of clothes retailing, the fix they can’t do without. And this wildly successful purveyor of fast fashion is gearing up to increase the pace, writes James Moore

Shoppers queue up outside Primark, which didn’t need offers to tempt them (Getty)

The headline says Primark lost £800m as a result of Covid-19 lockdowns across Europe (this is now very much an international business).

That’s net of measures to mitigate losses from stores being closed, by making use of the government’s furlough scheme for example.

While that’s a big number, this is very obviously a business for which the glass is half full.