The retailer, which owns a portfolio of 13 fashion retail brands, will create the jobs over the next five years. The announcement follows a year in which the group added £559.4m in gross added value to the UK, the equivalent to around 4.4% of the country’s clothing and footwear retail sector.

The group, which has been forced to tackle workplace abuses within its UK supply chain last year, estimates that around 50% of its sales are now coming from international markets such as the US and Australia.

It said its £500m investment includes the purchase of additional warehouse space and technology to help its operations become more efficient and meet the increase in demand.

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