Supporting the national effort during Covid-19

As one of the UK's leading online fashion retailers, we know that we have a responsibility to do everything we can to support the national effort against coronavirus, beyond protecting our people and our customers.

Teams across the business have been working hard over the past few weeks to offer our support and industry connections to the Government, the NHS and the local communities in which we operate, co-ordinated by our Chief Information Officer, Cliff Cohen.

We wanted to share an overview of these different workstreams, and in doing so hope that we might facilitate further collaboration with our partners and colleagues. If we can offer you our expertise or capabilities to support the work you are doing, please contact us at csr@asos.com.

Supporting frontline healthcare workers

We want to show our massive appreciation to the hard-working frontline healthcare staff in the UK, who are doing everything they can to keep people healthy and safe during these uncertain times.

In support of their efforts, we're creating a series of limited-edition unisex 'heroes' tees and hoodie with sizes ranging from S to XL, made from 100% organic materials. All of the profits from the sale of these will be matched by ASOS and donated to NHS Trust coronavirus charities local to where we operate so that we can do our bit to help those on the frontline.

We're also donating thousands of much-needed items to NHS front-line staff at NHS Trusts and hospitals that are either close to where we operate or have been in direct contact with us to ask for our support. This work has been driven by the suggestions of our customers and colleagues, many of whose friends and family are front-line staff and have been asking for specific products to make things easier for them. Some of the things we're donating include washable tote bags, so staff can take a change of clothes with them to work and then wash these - and the bag - at the end of each day; hand creams; and comfortable clothing for them to wear at work and at home, like joggers, tees and hoodies. Take a look here. We've also donated hundreds of headbands to one NHS Trust, as frontline workers are able to hook their facemasks to these headbands as a more comfortable alternative to wearing them behind the ears.

We want to show our support in as many ways as we can, so we're also offering NHS staff a 20% ASOS discount with the Blue Light Card.

Connecting our UK supplier base to the Government and the NHS

In the past few weeks, we have played a key role in connecting our UK-based suppliers and manufacturing partners with the UK Government. By doing so we are helping guide our UK supply chain to switch to manufacturing vital clothing equipment such as scrubs for the NHS and care workers.

We have also been supporting our international suppliers and manufacturers to put them in contact with the right departments within Government, to help speed up the procurement of vital PPE supplies, like surgical clothing, gowns, masks, and eye protection.

Offering our logistics capabilities to local efforts

We have contacted Barnsley, Sheffield and Doncaster councils - all local to our Great Houghton fulfilment centre - to offer our logistics capabilities and warehouse space in support of their local NHS efforts. We've offered to:

  • Provide additional storage and inventory management for medical supplies (such as scrubs, bedding and masks) at our Doncaster facility located at West Moor Park, which is open seven days a week;
  • Within this 200,000 square feet facility, provide storage & distribution services for ca. 1 million units across South Yorkshire to ensure supplies can get to where they're needed as soon as possible;
  • Additionally, we've offered two floors of 10,000 sq. ft. office space, which could provide a working space or additional storage.

Supporting small business through ASOS Marketplace

We know this is a difficult time for small businesses, so we've decided to do what we can to support our 800+ independent boutiques on ASOS Marketplace by removing their monthly rental fee for hosting product on the site. It's a small amount off their monthly costs, but we know that can make a big difference for a small business. Some of our boutiques have even decided to give the money they're saving to charity.

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ASOS plc published this content on 13 April 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 13 April 2020 18:12:04 UTC