“Our supply chain is running two to three weeks behind where it should be,” said Managing Director Michael Ward at the Qatar Economic Forum.
“A good example of that is we’ve just delayed the summer sale for two weeks because I need another 10 percent of new-season stock to allow me to function into the new year.”
The company’s decision to delay its summer sale makes Harrods the later player in the high-end retail space that has been hit by global product shortages arising from strict lockdowns in China and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
To top that off, the company is also tackling labor shortages — much like those in the airline and hospitality industries.
“It’s almost impossible to find the right staff,” Ward said. “We’ve lost significant amounts of people as a result of Brexit. And it’s not the skilled or qualified, it’s the people we need to do jobs that unfortunately the British will not do.”
That being said, the company is still benefitting from increased demand for luxury products, especially from Middle Eastern, American, and British customers, Bloomberg reported.
“If you were lucky enough at the moment to buy a Rolex Ceramic Daytona, we are selling it for £10,000, and you’d be able to instantly sell it for £30,000,” he said.
