Next has warned it could be forced to close stores after losing a landmark legal battle over equal pay worth more than £30m.
The claim, which dates back to October 2018, ruled that 3,540 predominantly female current and former members of staff should not have been paid less than employees in its warehouses, who are typically male.
It was the first legal claim of its kind made against a British retailers to secure a win for claimants.
It could pave the way for future claims to be made by staff of other businesses. More than 60,000 Asda employees are currently pursuing a similar claim, with a decision expected early next year.
But Next, which has appealed the ruling, said that the court battle might come at the expense of some stores.
“Inevitably some of our stores will no longer be viable if this ruling is upheld on appeal,” it said on Thursday.
“Materially increasing store operating costs will result in more shops being closed when their leases expire and will materially impede our ability to open new stores going forward.”
The firm also raised concerns about raising wages in its warehouses, which would mean an increase in cost for the consumer.
Lord Wolfson of Aspley Guise, the chief executive of Next, said: “We are not threatening to do anything. It was just pointing out the reality of store openings and closures.
“Whether we open or close stores will depend on each individual store’s profitability. So you would never expect a retailer to open a store that wasn’t planned to make a profit.”
Lord Wolfson continued: “What we’ve seen over the last seven to ten years is a huge number of shops shutting, because those shops, as sales have dropped, costs have gone up,” Wolfson said.
“The reality of retail, if you look back over the last ten years, is that all of us have had to make painful decisions about either not moving shops we wanted [to a different location], not opening new shops we would like to open or closing shops that were previously profitable.”