As a consequence of the challenging retail environment in the markets and channels where Van de Velde is traditionally active and the negative effect of the evolution of the British pound, Van de Velde expects that total turnover in 2017 will not grow compared to 2016. The company will therefore accelerate its investments in areas which will contribute to further international growth potential, such as positioning of its brands & marketing and development of new channels, development of eCommerce & digital including an up-to-date IT-architecture, and increase of the agility and delivery reliability of the supply chain.
At the same time there is a further investment in developing the capabilities of its employees and attracting additional talent to enable the above mentioned areas. These investments in the future will result in higher expenses in 2017 and 2018. These will only translate into sustainable growth of turnover and profitability of Van de Velde in the coming years.
