Superdry Plc: Company Overview, Performance Analysis, and CSR Strategy

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Superdry Plc, a global clothing brand known for its vintage Americana styling. It covers the company's history, vision, mission, values, goals, and strategies. The report also examines the financial performance of Superdry and its corporate social responsibility initiatives. It highlights the company's commitment to stakeholders, ethical practices, and environmental sustainability.

Business Assignment
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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Part 1................................................................................................................................................3
Company Overview.....................................................................................................................3
Part 2................................................................................................................................................5
Analysis of company performance..............................................................................................5
Part 3................................................................................................................................................6
Corporate social responsibility strategy of company...................................................................6
Part 4................................................................................................................................................8
Reflection.....................................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
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Introduction
This report is prepared to discuss and reflect upon the operations, performance and
position of Superdry Plc which is a British brand of clothing. Its products designs present a
combination of vintage Americana styling with graphics inspired from Japan (Varley and et.al.,
2018). They have stores all over UK and at many overseas locations. This report undertakes a
journey through its history and how it evolves its vision, mission, values, goals and strategies.
Also, present below are reflection on company's performance and its ability to create value.
Company's social responsibility strategy and its relations with its stakeholders are also discussed.
Part 1
Company Overview
Superdry Plc is a global clothing brand that combines vintage Americana styling with
Japanese inspired graphics and British twist. Superdry offers to its customers innovative,
premium-quality and affordable range of clothing and accessories for men, women and
specialists Its products are characterized by diverse usage of quality in fabrics with authentic
vintage washes, different and unique detailing, hand-drawn graphics, etc. which has been
appreciated by customers who appreciate style, quality and attention to details. This has earned it
truly global and loyal customers irrespective of age group. It has its headquarters in Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire, UK and satellite offices in other places like, Barcelona, Brussels, Hong Kong,
Munich and New York. It has its specialist sourcing offices in Istanbul and New Delhi. Its
biggest area of sales is its online business but it also physically operates in various countries of
the world including UK, USA, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain,
Sweden, etc. It designs, produce and sell premium-quality clothes at global marketplace. They
have adopted a flexible, capital-light and multi-channel approach to market (Wang, 2018).
Company's history originated in 1985 when Julian Dunkerton founded Cult Clothing
store in Cheltenham with a business partner. The business then expanded across UK. In 2003, he
collaborated with designer James Holder to develop a new in-house brand which was called
Superdry (Our history, 2020). In 2004, a new partner was introduced, Theo Karpathios and
together, three initiated wholesale business of group of Superdry and Cult Clothing in its UK and
international business. It got itself listed on London Stock Exchange in 2010. Company has
chosen joint ventures, purchases and acquisitions as its mode of expansion. For example, in
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2011, it acquired France and Benelux franchise and distribution partner, CNC Collections
BVBA, in 2013, it bought out its partners in Spain, Germany and Scandinavia. In 2015, it
entered into a joint venture with a Chinese retail operator, Trendy International Group. Today, it
operates through its owned stores, websites, franchises and licenses.
Vision – They envisions to place their brand at the position centred on creating amazing
clothes. Company admits to have an obsession with design and quality and take proud in its
relentless pursuance of innovation and operational excellence in all the activities that the
company undertakes (Sharma, 2016).
Mission – Their aims to have a financial growth aided by diversity and specialisation.
Mission of the company is to build a creative and product led brand that always inspires and
engages the customers who are obsessed with contemporary styling (At a glance, 2020). They
aim to deliver their mission by working as a team, so as to have a bright future for the brand and
the company, giving leverage to specialisation and expertise in the business.
Values – Values of Superdry reflects its beliefs of having open relationship with its
stakeholders. Its values include passion for what the company love the most, creativation which
is a blend of creation and innovation, quality in everything they do, etc (Our values, 2020). All
these values shape the personality of the company and acts as guide for all the operations that it
undertakes. Company believes their target customers are characterized by attitude not age.
Therefore, they have made it a point to develop building a strong customer proposition as their
organizational value.
Goals – Primary goal of the company is to make its foundation so strong that its existence
becomes resilient to environmental threats (Dobson, 2015). For example, company management
has decided to focus more on its design-led roots. Sustainability is at the heart of their strategies.
They have pledged to be a company producing cotton products made from 100% organic cotton
by 2030 (100% organic cotton by 2030, 2020). They are also dedicated to eliminate single use
plastic packaging and switching to 100% recyclable paper for e-commerce packaging. They have
targets of achieving 100% renewable electricity milestones. They have successfully achieved the
target of converting all owned stores and offices by 2018 and now aim to convert all distribution
centres and warehouses by 2025 and all franchise partners and supplier factories by 2030. It has
achieved a niche positioning within fashion markets for the brands and aims to develop and
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strengthen consumer opportunities in not exploited markets such as eastern Europe, USA and
China.
Strategy – Their present strategies aims to achieve good operational progress and to drive
profitability further (Koch and Manzhos, 2019). They plan to develop new opportunities and
segments with a renewed commitment to sustainability encompassed in their design-led roots
such as vegan footwear. Their marketing strategies include influencer-lead, digital brand
campaigning. They also plan to work upon their continued efficient stock management,
optimising working capital and disciplined cost and cash management. Company has observed
that consumers' shopping habits are ever-changing and also, due to pandemics like Covid-19,
customers are increasingly shifting towards online shopping. Cross-channel strategies have
benefited company and it plans to enhance consumer experience by ensuring that they are
provided minimised risk and optimum return for their shopping with the company at each stage
of customer interaction.
Part 2
Analysis of company performance
Financial performance analysis involves interpretation of financial statements so that a
profitability and financial soundness of the company can be ascertained. Usually to determine a
company’s ability to create financial value are determined by analysing final financial accounts
and various financial ratios of the company (Coleman and Thomas, 2017). Financial
performance and positioning of the company is critical to understand its growth and future
prospects of the company. It also helps investors and various stakeholders to take a decision
about their investment future. From the analysis of last 5 years of the Superdry's performance,
revenue of the company has seen ups and down. Revenue rose till 2018 from post which it
started sliding downside. In 2019 and 2020, it reported operational loss as well and consequently
reported losses in segment of profit for the period (Superdry Annual Report, 2020). This
turbulence can be owed to unstable economic environment. To add to the woes, pandemic
situation happened. Even though it has increased business for the company in digital sphere,
overall situation was in doldrums because of lockdowns, disrupted supply chain, disrupted
suppliers’ activities, etc. It can be seen from its financial ratios such as negative return on equity,
negative operating margin, etc. that company is facing a slump at the moment (Superdry, 2020).
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Market analysis of company also showed a downward trend in share prices of the company from
2018 which is alarming sign for the company and it must make some major changes in its
management, strategies and policies to bring back the investor’s confidence with it.
Creating value focuses on creating a strong brand backed by a stable financial
background and efficient business operations (Sanso, 2016). Superdry even though is facing
some ups and down in financial terms but has stable finances and operations which can be seen
from its historical performances, that makes it trustworthy for both customers and investors.
Capturing value means generating benefits from the created values. Company captures value for
customers by making effective pricing policy such as it makes premium-quality branded apparels
yet it keeps its prices affordable. It distributes dividend regularly and tries to make sure that its
share prices increase so that its investors can enjoy higher valuation of their investment amount.
Before last 3 years, company had been performing well and was enjoying high valuation in the
market so, it deserves a fair chance to prove itself a challenger and be allowed a fair chance to
come out as winner again.
Part 3
Corporate social responsibility strategy of company
Stakeholders are the groups or individuals that are interested in the business performance
of the company. They have direct and indirect interest with the company. Those stakeholders
which have direct interest in the financial performance and position of the company are
stakeholders such as owners, investors, creditors, employees, etc. and those who have indirect
interest includes the likes of customers, government, community, etc. Management of Superdry
understands their responsibility towards stakeholders and actively engage in stakeholder
management. Stakeholders of Superdry include both types of stakeholders which have direct and
indirect interests in the company. Company has a strong ethical policy of fulfilling its
responsibility as a business which derives its resources from society and owes its success to all
its stakeholders (Lemke and Petersen, 2018). Their responsibility statement includes
responsibility towards their all stakeholders from employers to customers and from society to
environment. They aim to create and conduct a responsible business by finding ways to achieve
their business growth without compromising on quality that they provide to their customers.
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Their Corporate responsibility statement is designed to ensure that all of their employees
and workers including in manufacturing factories and supply chain are respected and taken care
of. They stress on improving their activities sustainably in accordance with environment and
communities. Superdry also ensures that company and all of its suppliers comply with all
legislations of the land they are operating in. One of the key components of corporate
responsibility lies towards their employees, staff and workers (Hitt, Ireland and Hoskisson,
2016). They are committed to create a safe and fair environment for them. Superdry has never
ignored the importance of maintaining safety and welfare of its workforce. They have developed
a robust pre-approval process for all their factory sites and subcontracted units so that they work
with only best possible partners. They have implemented a system of grading their factories
using globally recognised risk assessment with a focus on risk to worker well-being and scale of
impact. They believe that impact driven risk assessment will enable better and prompt response
to human resource issues trending in the factory.
Superdry believes in the cause of societal welfare as a part of its corporate social
responsibility. It agrees that they have a strong responsibility towards society and supports many
charities and community events. For example, in 2014, it had donated £50,000 to Prince's Trust
to start a long-term program to address issue of youth unemployment. It also nominates an issue
every year to support and raises and donates funds to a related charitable trust. Superdry has
made respecting human rights a fundamental part of its business values and therefore, strictly
believes in working for abolishing slavery and human trafficking. They had made it a point that
no modern slavery takes place in any part of their businesses including supply chain (Beverland,
2018). They had clear practises mentioned regarding this in their ethical trading code, Migrant
and Contract Worker Policy and Guidelines and Subcontractor Policy, all of which are developed
in consultation with organizations such as the Ethical Trading Initiative and local experts,
directly under the supervision of company's Executive committee and Board of Directors. They
have established a robust for mechanism to assess risk over human rights within their business
and supply chain.
Company is committed to maintains ethical standards which are mentioned in Superdry
Ethical Trading Code of Practice which is based on the conventions of the International Labour
Organization. Group also regularly undertakes audits to review its staff and suppliers'
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performance against the Code to improve its work environment. They also organise a rolling
training program to increase awareness among their employees, suppliers and business partners (
De Beelde and Tuybens, 2015). They also partner with various local multi-stakeholder
organizations like The Brand Ethics Working Group in India and SOFROS in Turkey so that
they can aware of ethical requirements and practises in the local supplier countries. They are
very much committed to youth well-being and employment. They have a program named
'Superdry School Days’ in which they work with local schools to provide opportunities to school
students of working in Superdry so that they can experience working in focus groups, job
shadowing and can have career counselling from Superdry colleagues and experts. They also
work with undergraduates studying fashion, graphic design and photography in their university
partnership program. They provide them projects, work placements, and support undergraduate’s
individual assignments by providing them material and support and also, judging their final
coursework.
Another objective of their corporate responsibility is working with a consideration to
environment. They are committed to support the achievement of SDG 7 Clean and Affordable
Energy and reducing greenhouse gases emissions, energy consumption and waster in line with
SDG 13 Climate Action. They believe they can create a long-term economic sustainability by
working according to environmental sustainability. Therefore, they have integrated
environmental function into their core business operations (Hill and Hill, 2017). Their primary
focus is on waste management, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing clean energy
consumption. For example, their primary source of energy includes power from solar and hydro
power sources. They also believe and practise reuse and recycle. For example, they recycle waste
textiles to turn them into cleaning rags and car insulation. They continue to practice zero waste to
landfill policy and their UK head office and distribution centre. They partner with charities to
donate their unsold products to the needy which help them eliminate the need for landfill and
also garments are utilised (Garment reuse and recycle, 2020).
Part 4
Reflection
After going through all the information mentioned above, it could be learned from
Superdry and its mission and values that to be a true socially responsible global brand, a
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company needs to focus on quality, experimentation and customer satisfaction without
compromising on environmental and social responsibility. Their plan of action focuses on three
key areas – building a global lifestyle brand, raising awareness of the multi-dimension of the
Superdry range and building an ever-lasting relationship with their customers.
Company was launched in 2003 and since then has experimented so much on their
designing, production and fabrics which is awe-inspiring and encouraging to others. Their mix
and match of vintage Americana and Japanese style with a British twist has attracted customers
all over the globe and also, appreciated by them. It teaches a business idea that one should
experiment more to offer diverse styles to their customers but shall not compromise on quality
and basics of company values.
Company places strong emphasis on developing eco-friendly practises which gives a
lesson and reminder for businesses and individuals that it is possible to achieve great success by
being in harmony with nature (Cheah, Phau and Aiello, 2020). One should continually adopt
practises that induces sustainable utilization of resources. Company also provides a learning to
treat every human with respect and to respect others' rights to lead a dignified and happy life.
Company teaches that charities are not meant for show off but to be integrated into practises.
Conclusion
From the above, it could be concluded that Superdry is a global lifestyle brand. It offers
premium-quality clothing and accessories ranges. It is focused on creating value by providing
quality to their customers and fulfilling their social responsibility. Their aspiration to make
experience of every Superdry customer interesting, fantastic and lasting has earned it loyal
customers from all over the globe.
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References
Books and Journal
Beverland, M., 2018. Brand management: Co-creating meaningful brands. Sage.
Cheah, I., Phau, I. and Aiello, G. eds., 2020. Country of origin effect: Looking back and moving
forward. Routledge.
Coleman, S. and Thomas, B., 2017. Organizational change explained: Case studies on
transformational change in organizations. Kogan Page Publishers.
De Beelde, I. and Tuybens, S., 2015. Enhancing the credibility of reporting on corporate social
responsibility in Europe. Business Strategy and the Environment, 24(3), pp.190-216.
Dobson, J., 2015. How to save our town centres: a radical agenda for the future of high streets.
Policy Press.
Hill, A. and Hill, T., 2017. Essential operations management. Macmillan International Higher
Education.
Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D. and Hoskisson, R.E., 2016. Strategic management: Concepts and
cases: Competitiveness and globalization. Cengage Learning.
Koch, D. and Manzhos, S., 2019. Ab initio modeling and design of vanadia-based electrode
materials for post-lithium batteries. Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 53(8),
p.083001.
Lemke, F. and Petersen, H.L., 2018. Managing Reputational Risks in Supply Chains. In Supply
Chain Risk Management (pp. 65-84). Springer, Singapore.
Sanso, M., 2016. The Value Trail: How to Effectively Understand, Deploy and Monitor
Successful Business Models. Routledge.
Sharma, B., 2016. The high-end fashion retail perspective. Retail Design: Theoretical
Perspectives.
Varley, R. and et.al., 2018. Fashion management: A strategic approach. Macmillan
International Higher Education.
Wang, Y., 2018. Fashion Supply Chain and Logistics Management. Routledge.
Online
100% organic cotton by 2030. 2020. [Online]. Available
through:<https://corporate.superdry.com/sustainability/product/100-organic-cotton-by-
2030/>
At a glance. 2020. [Online]. Available through:<https://corporate.superdry.com/about-us/at-a-
glance/>
Garment Reuse and Recycle. 2020. [Online]. Available
through:<https://corporate.superdry.com/sustainability/planet/zero-waste-lower-
impact/garment-reuse-and-recycling/>
Our history. 2020. [Online]. Available through:<https://corporate.superdry.com/about-us/our-
history/>
Our values. 2020. [Online]. Available through:<https://corporate.superdry.com/about-us/our-
values/>
Superdry Annual Report. 2020. [Online]. Available through:<
https://corporate.superdry.com/media/2821/27279-superdry-annual-report-2020-
webready.pdf>
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Superdry. 2020. [Online]. Available through:<
https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/superdry-SDRY/financials>
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