British clothing retailer Next has confirmed a deal with US clothing chain Gap to run its business in the UK and Ireland, only months after the US retailer has conformed it was to close down all of its high street stores in these locations.

According to the terms of the agreement, Next will operate Gap’s online business, as well as host branded Gap concessions in selected stores, and provide an ‘extensive’ click-and-collect option for online shoppers, reports BBC News.

Next has about 500 retail stores in the UK and Ireland.

The franchise deal will operate as a joint venture, with Next controlling a 51 per cent stake, and shoppers will be able to buy Gap clothing via Next from the beginning of 2022.

The deal will allow Gap to maintain a presence on UK high streets following the announcement of the closure of 81 stores in the UK and Ireland in June, which will lead to the loss of around 1,000 jobs as the final stores close their doors at the end of this month.

Mark Breitbard, the chief executive of Gap Global, said: “Gap is partnering with Next, one of the UK’s leading online clothing retailers, to amplify our omnichannel business and meet our customers in the UK and Ireland where they are shopping now.”

Next, which has strongly recovered from the pandemic as shoppers flocked by to its high street stores once they reopened after the lockdown, said the deal will ‘allow Gap to operate its business in the UK and Ireland in a more efficient partner model’.

Next is the UK’s biggest internet clothing retailer, ahead of Asos and Boohoo. The UK chain has announced a range of performance upgrades this year and expects to make a £750 million pre-tax profit.

The deal with Gap comes a year after Next struck a similar deal with Victoria’s Secret to run the US lingerie firm’s struggling UK business.

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