AN ONLINE fashion company and major Lancashire employer has report a large rise in profits.

Boohoo, which maintains a large distribution hub on Heasandford Industrial Estate, Widow Hill Road in Burnley, reported a 41 per cent rise in revenues as the firm benefited from the online shopping boom during lockdown.

The company told shareholders on Wednesday morning that pre-tax profits lifted by 35 per cent to £124.7 million as it was boosted by the sales increase, while revenues jumped to £1.74 billion in the year to February 28 from £1.23 billion in the previous year.

Boohoo chief executive officer John Lyttle said: “Full-year 2021 has been a year of significant investment for the group as we build a platform for the future and I am very pleased to report a strong financial performance.

“We completed over £250 million of acquisitions in the period, which included Oasis, Warehouse, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Burton and Wallis, as well as the purchase of the remaining minority interest in PrettyLittleThing in a transaction that, to date, has resulted in substantial earnings enhancement for the group’s shareholders.

“Our newly-acquired brands are being re-energised and made relevant for today’s consumer across a broader market demographic.

“We are very excited about their potential and are already seeing the early rewards from their growth.”

This comes after Boohoo was forced to take action following a series of revelations last year which found that a number of factories in the company's supply chain were paying workers less than the minimum wage and requiring them to work under unsafe conditions during the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

One such factory described by an independent investigator as having “the worst working conditions that I have seen in the UK."

In response, Boohoo commissioned an independent report into the conditions carried out by Alison Levitt QC and ultimately cut more than 400 companies from its supply chain.

Meanwhile in March, the company announced a major new expansion in Burnley and said it will be working with several Burnley firms to work on transforming old industrial units on Widow Hill Road.

Boohoo has also pledged to prioritise the use of local suppliers in an effort to breathe some much-needed life into the local economy.