Superdry boss calls for tax cuts for Chinese budget rival Shein ahead of £50bn IPO
Seeing red: Superdry boss Julian Dunkerton with his wife Jade Holland Cooper
Superdry boss calls rival Shein a ‘complete environmental disaster’ and accuses the company of tax evasion.
Julian Dunkerton yesterday called for tougher tax measures against the Chinese fast fashion giant as the company plans a £50bn flotation on the London Stock Exchange.
Ministers must plug the “loophole” that allows Shein to avoid import duties by sending low-value parcels directly to customers in the UK, he said.
There is no charge for parcels valued under £135 shipped direct to the buyer.
“The rules are not designed for a company that sends individual parcels and has a turnover of a billion pounds in the UK without paying tax,” the businessman, who founded Superdry in 2003, told the BBC.
He added: ‘I would force them to pay import duties, VAT and possibly even an environmental tax.’
Dunkerton described the Chinese company as a “complete environmental disaster.”
Shein, which has also faced fierce criticism over alleged poor working conditions, previously said it was meeting all its UK tax obligations.
The EU is preparing to abolish import duties on parcels sent from outside the EU.
And President Biden has proposed a crackdown on the loophole in the US. Meanwhile, Dunkerton, 59, was optimistic about Superdry’s future as a private company after it left the London Stock Exchange earlier this year.
According to him, the company outperformed its High Street competitors by 35 percent.
“We’ve had the best start to the season in 15 years, it’s actually quite exciting at the moment,” he said.
‘Since we went public, I’ve really been able to get my hands dirty. It’s given me more time to do my job properly.’
He added that the sector is “cyclical” and that Superdry, which has struggled with an old-fashioned image for years, is “very attractive again to teenagers”.
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