Next said it may close stores if it loses an appeal against a landmark equal pay claim. The fashion and homeware retailer made the comments after shop workers at Next last month won a six-year legal fight for equal pay. Next is planning to challenge the decision and could have to pay more than £30m in compensation if it is unsuccessful. An employment tribunal found that its retail sales staff – who are overwhelmingly female – should be paid the same hourly rate as those working in Next’s warehouses, who are mostly men. “Inevitably, some of our stores will no longer be viable if this ruling is upheld on appeal,” the retailer said in its report to City analysts. Simon Wolfson, the chief executive of Next, said: “This is certainly not a threat. We are pointing out the reality of store openings and closures. It is about the costs of the business going up relative to sales.” Next has 466 stores across the UK. Announcing half year results on Thursday, Wolfson said there was no evidence that shoppers were spending more freely and the recent surge in sales was about sunshine. “When the weather flipped, the sales flipped,” he said. Next has said international tastes in fashion are “converging” as tech platforms expose consumers to global trends, boosting the retailer’s overseas sales and helping it close in on £1bn in annual profits for the first time. The retailer forecast its annual profits would be £15m more than previously expected, at £995m – up from the £918m recorded in 2023 – after overseas sales rose by 23% in the six months to July, offsetting a near 1% decline in sales of Next-branded clothing in the UK. The company said the “global reach” of tech platforms including Netflix, YouTube and TikTok were “exposing people to international fashion trends in a way they never have been before”, and improving international delivery networks were also encouraging “consumers to try clothes from other countries, and retailers to adapt their ranges that cater for overseas tastes”. It said: “It appears that international tastes in clothing are converging more rapidly.” Wolfson said the business was “at the start of a new phase” with more than half of its sales and profits now online and rapid growth in sales of non-Next brands, some of which the group now owns.