The founder of Joules recently opened the retailer’s new headquarters in Market Harborough, and he said that it symbolised the company’s history, as well as its future growth.
Shortly after clothing retailer Joules was founded, it expanded by occupying space in a cowshed on a farm. Then, its wholesale and online sales grew, and its turnover increased from £2 million to £11 million. It then moved out of the cowshed and occupied larger premises in Market Harborough. Growth continued, however, and a new building was required.
The new headquarters is a 600,000-sq ft building called The Barn. At the formal opening of the headquarters, Founder Tom Joules said:
“This building is for people to firstly feel safe and secondly to meet their friends, and to make sure Joules can continue the incredible journey that it has had so far. This is our new home and it is also our future and I want everybody to enjoy it as it is a fabulous place to work.”
The new headquarters has space for 600 to 700 employees. Joules does not currently need that many staff members at the site, but the building has been designed to have spare space ready for future business growth.
Joules’ strategy is to have more office and warehouse space than it needs so that it is prepared for future growth. As sales grow, all that is needed is more heavy-duty garment rails, shelving and other equipment in the warehouse, and more desks in its headquarters.
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