Chanel snaps up Bond Street boutique for £310m
French luxury fashion brand Chanel has reportedly bought its boutique store on Bond Street for £310m in a vote of confidence for the central London commercial property market.
Reports that the designer firm will pay around £70m above the £240m asking price for the property cements Bond Street’s status as a “safe haven”, despite plummeting footfall and retail sales due to the pandemic.
However the deal could also place the Bank of England’s emergency coronavirus lending scheme under scrutiny as Chanel borrowed £600m at the beginning of the pandemic.
The scheme was established to support large firms that had suffered sharp drops in revenue due to the coronavirus crisis.
Under Bank of England rules, businesses that “make a material contribution to the UK economy” and employ a “significant” number of workers in the country were allowed to access the loan scheme.
The French firm has its global headquarters in London, where it employs 1,600 people, according to The Times, which first reported the Bond Street deal.
In June Chanel said it would not access government furlough schemes but said it had accessed the BoE facility after being forced to shut all of its stores. It said the loan would be repaid within 12 months.
Chanel reported revenue of $12.3bn for 2019 and operating profit jumped 6.6 per cent to $3.5bn.
In June the firm said it expects to report a profit for 2020, despite a significant hit to sales.