Hong Kong-based health and beauty retail group AS Watson is set to add 1,000 new positions in the UK as part of its expansion plans.
The company owns high-street chains Superdrug, Savers and The Perfume Shop, and plans to open 88 new stores across the UK, 30 of which will be part of the Superdrug franchise and offer 600 jobs.
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AS Watson’s health and beauty brand Savers will also increase its stores by 45 and hire 450 new people. Around 78 jobs will also be created to run 13 new outlets of The Perfume Shop.
AS Watson managing director Dominic Lai was quoted by The Telegraph as saying: “We are under a lot of pressure, with Brexit uncertainty and sterling going down, but we will continue to invest in the UK.”
Superdrug has reportedly been earning profits and revenues amid the grim situation currently being experienced by high-street retail sector.
With 789 shops in the UK and Ireland, the company posted a 10.4% increase in sales to £1.2bn last year.
Last week, Superdrug also said that it had seen a 60% surge in online sales, with ‘banana powder’, a shine-removing face powder, being its top-selling product.
In April, AS Watson’s Chinese unit opened a new shop in Shanghai, representing the 3,000th outlet in the country.
