Next To Appeal Equal Pay Ruling

Next has announced that it is to appeal against an equal pay ruling made against it by an employment tribunal last month that it had discriminated against retail sales staff, who are predominantly female, by paying them less (between £0.40 and £3.00 per hour) compared with warehouse workers who are overwhelmingly male. Should Next be unsuccessful with its appeal, it faces having to pay out in access of £30 million and states that it may have to close some of its UK stores as a result. In a report, it stated: "Inevitably some of our stores will no longer be viable if this ruling is upheld on appeal. Materially increasing store operating costs will result in more shops being closed when their leases expire and will materially impede our ability to open new stores going forward."