If the measure of success for a fashion brand is being worn and beloved by multitudes of glamorous and wealthy celebrities then Victoria Beckham‘s fashion brand should have been raking it in for years.
Looks can be deceiving though and behind the glitzy fashion shows, huge turnover and high profile endorsements the Spice Girl’s brand has rarely broken even.
Indeed on more than one occassion it has been reported husband David bailed out her company. In 2016 it was saidDavid had helped her out to the tune of £5.2 million.
Despite her empire turning over £34 million in 2014 David was said to have stepped in after Victoria spent almost £3 million setting up her Mayfair boutique.
That same year Victoria was threatened with having her company struck off after failing to file accounts on time for the third year in a row. According to the MailOnline a letter was sent stating: “Unless cause is found to the contrary Victoria Beckham Limited will be struck off the register and the company dissolved…”
However in 2017 a spokeswoman for the Beckhams told the MailOnline that claims of a bail out “misrepresents how their businesses operate”.
Explaining there is a private holding company, Beckham Brand Holdings Ltd, owned equally by the couple and by Simon Fuller’s XIX, which oversees all the Beckham businesses they said: “These businesses may be funded in different ways at any point in time, which may entail a mixture of bank debt, inter-company loans or equity investment.”
Despite this there were similar reports in 2019 when The Mirror claimed David had helped Victoria’s struggling fashion business with a whopping £23million bailout after her firm lost £10million.
His company DB Ventures gave her a £6.6million cash injection and guaranteed a loan of £4million.
At the time accounts for 2017 filed in December 2018 showed another company they jointly own was owed £12.2million by Victoria Beckham Ltd.
Victoria founded her design company in 2008 but it has only broke, even in four financial years. In 2018, a spokesman for the company blamed big investments in “design, marketing and sales.”
The company, now seems to have turned a corner though after it was restructured under the leadership of CEO Marie Leblanc. In September this year Victoria Beckham Holdings Limited, announced its pre-tax loss fell to £2.9 million in 2023, down from £3.1 million the previous year.
Revenues at the company also soared to £89.1 million, marking the third consecutive year of double-digit growth for the brand.
Despite this the company still relied on shareholder cash injections, totaling £6.9 million, which they said was to support inventory investment and working capital needs.
If this upward trajectory continues there will soon be no need to dip into cash from other areas of Brand Beckham.