Bravissimo grabs funds to support online Covid bounce

Bravissimo, the lingerie, swimwear and clothes brand for women with a more “developed” figure, has secured a multi-million-pound funding package to shore up the expansion of its online operation and customer experience strategy during the ongoing Covid lockdown.

The company, which is headquartered in Leamington Spa, has already revealed that the first lockdown resulted in a “severe” reduction in its income when its stores were first closed in March 2020.

Its latest results – published in October last year – showed that while revenue increased from £57.2m to £60.2m, pre-tax profits went from £1.4m to £138,712.

Bravissimo said that the new funding from NatWest will help it to meet increased online demand during the pandemic.

The retailer has continued to invest in stock, pivoting to increase focus on comfort and sportswear items as its customers’ needs changed with the increased time spent at home.

Chief executive Leanne Cahill said: “After the safety of our teams, our main priority since the beginning of the pandemic has been the long-term operation of the business and this has meant that we have had to adapt how we do things here at Bravissimo. As we moved more online, we quickly responded to increase capacity.

“At Bravissimo, our community of big-boobed women are at the heart of every decision we make, and during these difficult times being there for our customers, despite our shops being closed, was so important to us.

“We wanted to make sure we had the right level of support in our customer service teams, who not only help customers to find bras that fit them well, but also give them advice and support them to feel amazing over the phone, email and via Live Chat on our website.”

Cahill said that the company’s bra fitters have supported “thousands of women”, including first-time mums looking for advice and nursing bras and other customers finding the right sports bra for their home workouts.

“We are now in a very strong position to grow the business over the coming years despite the huge challenges that have faced our industry over the last 12 months, NatWest have been instrumental in this. Thanks to our ongoing partnership with [the bank], we have entered 2021 feeling confident about the year ahead.”