Background:

RBF was established in $2001$ and over the past twenty plus years has become one of the

UK$$s largest manufacturers of high quality women$$s clothing for leading retail brands

such as Boden, Jaeger and Whistles. The company owns their Head Office property in

Leeds and they rent three factories in Leeds, Bradford and Huddersfield respectively, as

well as owning a warehouse, also located in Leeds.

Despite the challenges resulting from the UK$$s decision to leave the European Union

$($Brexit$)$ and the Covid $19$ pandemic, RBF has continued to remain profitable. However,

over the past five years profits have fallen significantly.

The Board of Directors have been discussing the latest financial data $($see Appendix $1)$

and how best to return the company to the high profit levels seen in previous years.

The directors have made the following decisions:

Decision $1$

To close two of their three UK factories and outsource all current production to

manufacturers in countries such as Turkey and Egypt. This will also require an increased

role for the companies Head Office which, in addition to their current roles of sales,

customer liaison and production planning & technical support, will require setting up two

new sections for import and export logistics and pattern cutting.

Decision $2$

To use the third factory to manufacture female fashion clothing for $16-25$ year olds

which will be sold exclusively online under the company$$s own brand name RobeBeau.

The Leeds warehouse will become the storage and despatch facility for the online sales

of RobeBeau branded clothing. An investment of $100,000$ will be needed to purchase

the technology needed for the online store.

Task:

$1.$ Discuss how any two internal and any two external stakeholders in RBF might view

the decisions taken by the Board of Directors outlined above.

$2.$ With the aid of relevant calculations, discuss the sources of finance the Board of

Directors might consider for financing the $100,000$ investment in new technology for

the new online RobeBeau brand.

$3.$ Evaluate the factors which you think could determine the success of RobeBeau$$s

online fashion clothing.