Seven Dials City

Julian Dunkerton didn't mince his words. The Superdry founder told Sean Farrington the Chinese fast fashion retailer Shein was an "environmental disaster" and a "tax avoider." His view is that Shein has an unfair advantage because it doesn't have to pay import duties on the cheap parcels it sends directly to UK customers from overseas. Shein chose not to reply to Mr. Dunkerton but told us its success was down to its "efficient supply chain", not tax exemptions. Julian Dunkerton isn't the first UK retail boss to go on the record about Shein. But I can't remember anyone putting it in such strong terms.

Over the last few months, Seven Dials City has been working with the Superdry leadership team to set out its future away from the spotlight of the public markets. In the September issue of leading retail publication Drapers, Zoe Hu speaks to Julian Dunkerton to hear his vision for this well-loved British brand.

Many congratulations to our long-standing client Global for winning the bid to manage TfL's rail advertising network, one of the largest outdoor advertising contracts in the world. Seven Dials City acted as strategic advisor to Global throughout the process. Stephen Miron Group CEO, Global comments: “Seven Dials played a massive role in helping us win the TFL Rail advertising contract in what was a highly competitive tender. Their strategic advice and editorial excellence, together with their unstinting efforts, were invaluable in winning one of the most valuable, procurement-led contracts in the world.”

A brilliant article from our CEO Simon Kelner on why Elon Musk's citizen journalism won't do us any favours. It is a stark reminder to us in PR that when we opt to control the narrative using the lever of social media, sometimes the adversarial nature of journalism and its rigorous quest to expose the facts is a better forum to publicise our opinions. At Seven Dials City, we often give our clients a simple piece of advice - tell the truth. When you are held up to scrutiny, it matters. And telling the truth in partnership with a skilled journalist can in lots of cases help turn the reputational tide around.

Congratulations to our real estate clients Yoo Capital for unveiling their masterplan for Camden Film Quarter. This ambitious and exciting project will give Britain's creative industries a new home in the heart of London. Read more about their impressive plan in Deadline: https://lnkd.in/eAgyEfdU

This week, we helped our client Duke Street, a leading European mid-market private equity group, announce its latest acquisition. At Seven Dials City, we know how important it is to get M&A communications right for all audiences. If you would like more information on how we could help your business through a transaction, drop us a line at info@sevendialscity.com https://lnkd.in/eYX8K8YX

We are delighted to have supported Duke Street with its latest transaction, the acquisition of AGITO Medical from Philips. Congratulations to the entire team at Duke Street on another successful deal. We're proud to have a long-standing relationship with this leading European mid-market private equity group, providing them with corporate and financial communications advisory. #FinancialCommunications #CorporateCommunications

Seven Dials City have acted as advisor to Julian Dunkerton, founder and chief executive of global fashion brand Superdry. As with many retail brands, Superdry has been operating against a backdrop of unprecedented challenges over the past few years, leading the company to undertake a series of measures, each interdependent on the other, designed to stabilise the business and secure its long-term future. The measures comprised a court-approved Restructuring Plan across its UK property estate and retail cost base, extending its secured debt facilities, an equity raise, and a stock market delisting. The Restructuring Plan received overwhelming support from creditors, including Landlords, with 99% by value of those creditors voting in favour. Shareholders approved all resolutions put to them, and the equity raise took the form of a £10m placing to Julian Dunkerton. The advisory work was led by Natasha Shapiro, Head of Corporate at Seven Dials City: "We are delighted to have assisted Julian and Superdry in achieving these critical plans, which allows the business to move forward with an injection of capital and a clear target operating model. We look forward to the next chapter of Superdry." Natasha was assisted by Felix Meston, and worked closely with the corporate legal team at Debevoise & Plimpton (Raman Bet-Mansour, Dominic Blaxill), Rothschild & Co (Charles Fenwick, John Byrne), as well as with the advisors for Superdry PLC: Tim Danaher, Teneo (Jonny Lees, Gavin Maher), Peel Hunt (Andrew Clark, George Sellar), the corporate M&A team at Macfarlanes, and of course all at Superdry (Jennifer Richardson, Liz Packe, Matt Brewster, Suzie Noble, Shaun Packe et al!) https://lnkd.in/eJTTJkMM

If you are up for a new, exciting opportunity to work at one of the UK's leading boutique financial and corporate communications agencies, we at Seven Dials City are hiring. If this sounds like the role for you, please get in touch with Felix Meston or Natasha Shapiro.