Impact of PESTLE factors on Fashion and Clothing Industry in UK

This essay analyzes the impact of PESTLE factors on the Fashion and Clothing Industry in the UK through a case study of ASOS. It discusses how political factors like COVID-19, economic factors like manufacturing costs, social factors like fashion-conscious consumers, technological factors like online platforms, legal factors like employment laws, and environmental factors like sustainability affect the industry.

Identify and assess how key factors within the business
environment (using the PESTLE framework) have
impacted the Fashion and Clothing industry in UK.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
A PESTLE analysis can be defined as a framework that is used by different organizations
in order to study and evaluate the external environment of a particular company or the industry in
which the company falls (Le, 2020). The current study is based on the ASOS company which is
headquartered in Greater London House, Hampstead Road, London, England, NW1 7FB. Since,
the ASOS company belongs to the clothing and fashion industry, the current study will also
include the analysis of the same. The present study aims to determine how the external
environmental factors such as Political, Environmental, Social, Technological, Legal and
Economic factors affects the operations and functioning of the Fashion and Clothing Industry in
London, England.
MAIN BODY
The PESTLE analysis is a tactical tool that helps the companies in studying their external
environment and helps them in assessing the areas that needs special care and attention. The
PESTLE framework helps the enterprises studying the macro environment associated with the
operations and functioning of the company. Similarly, in order to study the macro environmental
factors that have impact on the business operations of the ASOS and the Fashion and Clothing
industry within the United Kingdom have been discussed within the study.
It has been determined that there were certain political factors that affected the working
of the Fashion and Clothing industry in UK which included COVID 19 as the major challenge
for the industry (Grose, 2021). The outbreak of COVID-19 across the globe led to the
imposition of lock down in all the nations worldwide. The imposition of lock down across the
globe made it very difficult for the companies and the clothing and fashion industry to survive
within the market. This is so because, at that time each one was facing a hard time. Many people
lost their jobs in the lock down and was begging for employment in order to survive. Therefore,
it can be stated that the lock downs led to the development of a hard time for the Clothing and
Fashion Industry (Celano, 2021). This in turn influenced the companies falling under this sector
to take help from the Government in order to stay within the market.
It has been determined that manufacturing of clothes in the United Kingdom is quite
expensive in United Kingdom. Therefore, many fashion brands including the ASOS plans to
manufacture their products in other countries. These nations include India, Sri Lanka, turkey,
China, and Bangladesh. Manufacturing their products in other countries helps them in saving

their production cost and thus sell the same at different prices in their own country. The ASOS
offers its customers with affordable pricing of their products within the market. Similarly, the
concept of affordable prices helps the companies falling under the category of Fashion and
Clothing industry to attract a wide range of customers in the market (Madara, 2020). This in
turn, helps the companies in increasing their profitability and productivity within the boundaries
of London. However, it has been identified that the Fashion and Retail Industry also gets affected
by recession and economic difficulties within the nation, but they also cope and adapt to the
different situations and circumstances faster.
The Clothing and Fashion Industry of United Kingdom provides employment to around
816000 people. It provides a number of opportunities to the individuals within the market as this
industry employs different individuals including fashion designers, journalists, magazine
publishers, fashion marketeers, fashion consultants, and many more of such people. This shows
that the companies under this industry has good scope within the national boundaries of the
United Kingdom (Ha, 2021). Also, it has been noticed that there a number of colleges and
universities in the United Kingdom that provides the required education to individuals regarding
fashion. The more there will be the fashion designers within the United Kingdom, the better it
will be for the Clothing and Fashion Industry in the United Kingdom (Mikhailava, 2018). This is
because, it will help the Fashion and Clothing Industry to make use of the talent available within
the market and come up with a better outcome. If there will be new talent available within the
country in the field of fashion, it will help the company in hiring new and young people to their
enterprise which in turn will help the company in developing clothes that are fashionable,
creative and different but are affordable at the same (Ullah, 2021). This will help the fashion and
clothing industry in achieving great height within the markets of the UK and gain a leading brand
position within the market. Also, it has been observed that there is a rise in number of fashion
conscious consumers in the markets of the UK which includes millennials too. This will
specifically help in the growth and development of the Fashion and Clothing Industry in the UK.
With the constant technological advancements taking place across the globe, most of the
companies which belongs to the Clothing and fashion industry have introduced their businesses
online. Many brands such as ASOS, Amazon, ebay, H&M, etc have initiated their businesses
online a long ago. The technology has helped the fashion and clothing industry in extending their
reach and thus increase their customer base across the globe. With the help of the online

shopping sites, now the companies can easily make their products available to the customers
living in different parts of the world. This has been found helpful to the fashion brands in
enhancing their revenue and profitability across the globe. Similarly, another major thing which
has helped the companies under the fashion industry is extending their reach is the brands as
such Amazon and E bay (Kelion, 2021). The Amazon and E bay are platforms which do not sell
their own products. Instead, these apps collaborate with different international and local brands
of a country and help them in making their products and services available within other countries
and parts of the world. These apps have been found helpful for the brands in increasing their
sales and profitability in the UK.
There are many legal factors that affects the operations and working of a company. Many
brands falling within the category of Fashion and clothing might be willing to introduce their
business in the UK. Or, there might brands belonging to the UK industry who might be wanting
to enter and reach new markets all over the world. However, in order to introduce their business
within the UK or any other nation, it is necessary for a country to make sure that they are aware
of the rules, regulations and other legal framework existing in that nation. The companies should
be aware of the employment related laws, tax laws, labour laws in order to successfully establish
in the new market, or they might have to face losses (Fernandes, Honã, and Cruchinho, 2020).
It has been determined that there not any major laws affecting this industry in the boundaries of
the UK , however, it is the responsibility of the enterprise to make sure that their operations do
not have any kind of negative impact on the environment of the country.
Lastly, the study presents the environmental factors that affects the operations of the
Fashion and clothing industry in the UK (David, 2021). It is the duty of the fashion brands to
take a step forward and contribute their part in the process of making the environment clean. It
has been identified that UK comprises the highest number of shoppers of clothes in the entire
Europe. They are also accountable for sending around 300000 tons of clothes per year for the
purpose of burning them as a waste. It has been observed that the fashion and clothing industry is
accountable for an average of 10% of the global emission of green house gases (Varley, and et.al
2018). Also, this industry consumers much more energy as compared to the consumption of the
Shipping industries and the aviation industries. Therefore, the companies should take more
responsibility and work towards sustaining the environment. The companies should set a target

and aim towards achieving the concept of sustainability and contribute their role in the
development of the environment of the nation.
CONCLUSION
From the above study, it can be concluded that most of the factors associated with the
macro environment affects the Fashion and Clothing Industry in a positive way. It has been
determined that there are many colleges in London, UK that provides education in the field of
the Fashion. This in turn will help the companies in the Fashion and Clothing in hiring new and
talented employees within the company and help this industry in enhancing their profitability. On
the other hand, it has been observed that this industry has faced financial difficulties during the
period of lockdown. Also, the enterprises falling under this sector had increased their sales and
profitability by making use of online and digital platforms. In today’s world, the trend of making
use of fashionable products among the teenagers is also rising rapidly. Today’s generation all
across the globe tries to be aware of the products that are trending in the market and also plans to
make a purchase just after seeing something new. Therefore, this has been identified as a source
of contributor in the success of the fashion and clothing industry within the UK. After having a
look at these, it can be stated that these factors can lead to the success of the fashion and clothing
industry in the boundaries of UK in the near future.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Celano, S., 2021. Eco-canvas and circular economy: a proposal for a sustainable fashion
business model.
David, J., 2021. PESTEL analysis of France (France country profile).
Fernandes, S., Honã, I.D. and Cruchinho, A., 2020. Fashion Revolution As Promoter Of Social
Innovation And Sustainability In Fashion. Revista de Pielarie Incaltaminte. 20(1). p.51.
Grose, V., 2021. A Practical Guide to the Fashion Industry: Concept to Customer. Bloomsbury
Publishing.
Ha, J., 2021. Zara Strategic Analysis.
Kelion, E., 2021. Factors influencing growth of fashion leather shoes. A review of
literature. International Journal of Fashion and Design.1(1). pp.22-30.
Le, T., 2020. Business model for an online clothing store in Finland.
Madara, D., 2020. Burberry PLC and UK's Fashion Industry. External Analysis. GRIN Verlag.
Mikhailava, S., 2018. Millennials are Changing the Game for Marketers. How to best reach
Millennials in luxury clothing industry? (Doctoral dissertation, Tese de Mestrado,
University of New York in Prague).
Ullah, N., 2021. Fast-Fashion Labels Industry: Strategy Evaluation of H&M.
Varley, R., and et.al 2018. Fashion management: A strategic approach. Bloomsbury Publishing.
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