Jigsaw is opening raft of new stores after post-pandemic rebound

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 27, 2023

Jigsaw is starting to open new stores again, less than two years after shutting a raft of locations, as physical retail recovers in a way few would have thought possible in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic.

The company had previously closed around 30 of its shops, but will be opening three locations this year. They’ll be in Manchester,  Islington and Kingston. And they follow this month’s debut at Battersea Power Station, for a total of 45 stores across its portfolio.

And CEO Beth Butterwick told The Times that the next few years could see around 20 stores opening across the UK. “We will open as many stores as we can agree and find the right location,” she said.

She added that the company is targeting market towns and regional city centres, and will focus on smaller sites. 

“We feel really positive about the role of stores. The high street has gone through a battering and some high streets are reshaping themselves. Going back into locations where we were before feels like the right thing to do,” she told the newspaper.

The now-53-year-old business had launched a company voluntary arrangement in 2020 but its restructuring efforts paid off and operating profit in the year to the end of January 2022 was £1.2 million. That may be small, but it was a big turnaround from the equivalent loss of £21 million in the previous financial year. It came as sales jumped from £38.7 million to £47.7 million.