Pre-tax profits rose 18% to \u00a345.2m even as the number of people employed by the group in the UK, mostly in sales and marketing, rose to 113 from 91 a year before. The company paid \u00a311.2m in current tax \u2013 understood to be mainly corporation tax \u2013 up from \u00a39.6m a year before.<\/p>\n
Shein said sales had been helped by a marketing partnership with the Wireless and Creamfields music festivals, a pop-up shop on London\u2019s Oxford Street and Christmas gift events in Edinburgh, Manchester and Liverpool as well as London.<\/p>\n
The strong trading figures are likely to increase pressure on the government to bring forward action to change the \u201cde minimis\u201d rule that has underpinned the rise of the fast-growing online specialists Shein<\/a> and Temu.<\/p>\n Fears about China\u2019s retailers and manufacturers dumping goods in the UK have grown since the US last year revoked its own de minimis<\/a> exception for Chinese-made goods, crimping Shein\u2019s expansion there.<\/p>\n The retailer\u2019s model is based on shipping orders of cheap clothes from Chinese factories to homes so that each order is low enough in value to avoid import duties.<\/p>\n Under the US exemption, which was scrapped last year, parcels with a value of less than $800 (\u00a3600) shipped to individuals had been spared from import tax.<\/p>\n The EU is also phasing out its exemption<\/a> on customs duties for low-value parcels. It began in July by replacing the \u20ac150 de minimis relief with a flat \u20ac3 customs duty.<\/p>\n The former UK chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would get rid of the UK\u2019s rule, which allows overseas sellers to send goods valued at \u00a3135 or less direct to British shoppers without paying any customs duty, by 2028. However, major retail bosses have said the government should move sooner.<\/p>\n Investors\u2019 concerns about global government regulatory changes meant Shein\u2019s value was far lower when it listed on the stock market than had been expected several years ago.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a>Free newsletter |Every weekday<\/p>\n Sign up to Business Today<\/p>\n Get set for the working day \u2013 we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n It reached a valuation of $100bn in an April 2022 fundraising round, making it the third most valuable startup in the world, and then considered a \u00a350bn ($66bn) float<\/a> on the London Stock Exchange in 2024 before eventually launching in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1791553091_21_500.jpg\")
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