Primark

A fast-growing affordable fashion retailer with over 190 UK stores, known in Ireland as Penneys, with UK offices in Reading.

About Primark

Primark is a retailer that sells clothing, shoes, accessories, homeware and beauty products at low prices. Customers know it for good-value everyday basics, seasonal fashion and children's clothes. It is part of Associated British Foods and trades as Penneys in Ireland, where its first store opened in Dublin in 1969.

Primark says it was "founded on a mission that everyone deserves to look and feel good, without paying more." Its values, from 2024, are Caring, Dynamic and Together. It also runs a sustainability strategy called Primark Cares, launched in 2021. This aims to reduce fashion waste, halve carbon emissions across its value chain and improve the lives of the people who make its products, while keeping prices low. The Primark Cotton Project, started in 2013, helps farmers use more environmentally friendly growing methods.

The UK is Primark's biggest market. Its first English store opened in Derby in 1974, and it now has over 190 stores here, from big-city flagships to high street shops. A careers-guide profile lists a Reading office at West Street, and a Primark job advert shows a UK policy and public affairs head role based in Reading. The company says it employs more than 80,000 colleagues across 20 countries and over 500 stores, with the UK as its largest base. The company's figures differ between pages, so treat headcounts as approximate.

Jobs at Primark include store roles such as sales assistants, team managers, visual merchandisers and stock handlers. Support roles cover buying and design, merchandising, supply chain and sourcing, sustainability and ethical trade, finance, technology, marketing and legal and public affairs. A Primark page on diversity and inclusion shows that the company runs its own staff networks and supports Pride events. These are the company's own claims.

Primark says its nine Primark Cares commitments for 2030 include working towards a living wage for the workers in its supply chain, so ethical trade and sustainability are real career areas as well as buying and retail. We did not find a published list of UK office locations beyond Reading, so check the Primark careers site for current roles and places. Primark says its Cotton Project, started in 2013, is part of that work, so it is a good company to look at if you care about fashion with a conscience.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Affordable clothing, shoes and accessories for women, men and children.', 'title': 'Fashion and essentials'}
• {'desc': 'Homeware, bedding and beauty products in store.', 'title': 'Home and beauty'}
• {'desc': 'Its programme on sustainability, workers and the planet.', 'title': 'Primark Cares'}

Key facts

• First store opened in Dublin in 1969 as Penneys; first English store in Derby in 1974
• 190+ UK stores, its largest market (company page)
• More than 80,000 colleagues across 20 countries (company page)
• Primark Cares sustainability strategy launched in 2021

Website: www.primark.com