The World Retail Congress was delighted to be able to catch up with Paul Marchant, Chief Executive of Primark, to get his reflections on what 2024 has meant to the business and the prospects for 2025. Growth is at the heart of the Primark story.  

Looking back over 2024, what have been the highlights across the Primark business that have pleased you the most? 

It’s been a strong year for Primark, filled with plenty of highlights and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved over the last 12 months. We’ve remained focused on our growth and expansion plans and opened 22 new stores across the last financial year, including our first store in Hungary. I try to attend as many store openings as I can. It is always a special moment when I get to experience first hand the buzz ahead of a store opening and see the passion from our colleagues who work so hard to get the store ready to open and the queues of excited customers waiting to get a first look of the store. We’ll end 2024 with 459 stores across 17 countries. 

When it comes to our products, we’ve continued to focus on ensuring we’re offering the very best value on the high street, delivering great value and quality essentials for all the family, as well as the latest fashion. 

We launched a new look and feel for the brand this year and our first brand campaigns in Germany and the US as part of our growth plans in those markets. I am proud of the work our teams have been doing to make Primark a more accessible place to work and shop and bring more adaptive fashion to the high street. We launched our first adaptive underwear range at the start of the year and there’s more to come.  
 

What have been the biggest challenges across the year and how have you been able to tackle them?  

Working within retail is never without its challenges and this year has been no different. The rise in anti-social behaviour and organised retail crime has presented a real challenge for the entire retail industry but I am encouraged by the increased collaboration across retail and government to address this. Elsewhere, the weather, as always, has kept us on our toes and there’s no doubt many households continue to feel real pressure on their finances, which of course has a big impact on retail. However, despite the challenges, retail is a very resilient and agile industry and can move quickly and it’s this that has helped us navigate these challenges.  

 

Primark celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024. What founding principles from 50 years ago are most relevant to the business that Primark is today?  

Whilst a lot has changed, much of our business and founding principles have remained the same, which I believe plays a key part in our success today.  

We opened our doors in Derby in 1974 with the ambition of making fashion more affordable and accessible to everyone, helping people look good and feel good, for less, and this remains as true today as it was back then. 

We are also obsessed with maintaining our price leadership and will never be complacent as we always look to expand our ranges with new product innovations and collaborations while ensuring we’re offering the very best value. 

Something I would say is quite uniquely Primark is our unwavering dedication to our physical stores. Our stores are central to our business, and we are focused on providing our customers with a great in-store experience across all of our markets. We are big believers in the power of physical retail and the high street and believe in it as much now as we did 50 years ago.  

 

What is your feeling about prospects for retailing in 2025 in Primark’s markets?  

I feel positive about the future of retail across all 17 of our operating markets as we head into next year. There’s strong consumer demand for great value quality clothing and we’re well placed to meet that need.   
 

In today’s fast-moving, technologically connected world, what do you see as the most important ingredients for retail success?  

While so much has changed in the world of retail over the last few years, when it comes to the ingredients for success, I think many of these remain the same. For me these have always been about staying true to who you are, being really clear on your offer and what differentiates you from competition, always looking at everything through the eyes of the customer and ensuring that as a leader you are listening and learning from your team, especially those who are closest to your customers in store every day. 
 

What do you believe will drive growth for Primark in 2025?  

We continue to see a lot of potential for growth across all of our markets and our new store opening programme will continue to be a key driver for growth. With value and quality continuing to be more important than ever for consumers we also have an opportunity to reach new customers as more people seek out great value. 

With over 450 stores across 17 countries, Primark is a worldwide brand - what markets do you see growing the strongest in 2025?  

You might expect me to say this, but it would be impossible to choose between our 17 markets as they all play an important role within the overall Primark business. In fact one of the reasons I’m most excited about the business going into next year is that I see opportunities in each of the markets we’re in today. 

While each market has different opportunities and challenges and we’re at different stages of our journey across each of them, the customer demand for great quality and affordable clothing is universal and I think makes us well placed in all of our markets to respond to that demand.  

 

What are Primark’s key priorities for 2025?  

Very much excited for the year ahead and growth and international expansion remain high on our agenda. We’re continuing to invest in our store estate with new stores and refitting existing stores as we continue to work hard to create a great in store experience for our customers and colleagues. Quality and value are a high priority for consumers and remain a big focus for us across all of our ranges. As we look to continue to offer the best value on the high street, but without compromising on quality, we are looking to set a new standard for durability and challenge the perception that you need to spend more for clothing to last.