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.
Boohoo’s move places it firmly on one side of a debate that continues to divide British business. Before 2020, working from home was often treated as a rare perk or a “Friday luxury”, but the pandemic turned hybrid arrangements into the norm for millions. According to the Office for National Statistics, more than a quarter of working adults in Great Britain now split their week between home and the workplace.
Many employers have since rowed back, arguing that physical presence is essential for collaboration, mentoring junior staff and overseeing output, while others are keen to justify expensive, long-term real estate leases. Amazon demanded a full five-day return for its corporate workforce, and major UK employers including Boots, Morrisons and the engineering firm Laing O’Rourke have followed suit for head office staff. Others, such as Santander, have tightened hybrid rules without abandoning flexibility altogether, wary of resignations and keen to bank the savings from smaller offices.
The tide, though, appears to be turning slowly in the employers’ favour. Average office attendance in the UK has been above 40 per cent every week since early January, reaching 44.2 per cent in the week to 12 February, according to Remit Consulting’s ReTurn report.
For Finley, the calculation is simpler still: a fashion business that cannot see its own clothes on its own people is flying blind. The tracksuit bottoms, it seems, will have to wait for the weekend.