Online fashion retailer ASOS to create 1,500 new jobs at London HQ

Online fashion retailer ASOS (LSE: ASC.L - news) is planning to hire an extra 1,500 people over the next three years to work at its UK headquarters.

ASOS currently employs 2,500 people at the site in Camden, north London, and is to spend £40m on work to expand the site.

It is the latest online-focused business - following Google and Facebook (Swiss: FB-USD.SW - news) - to announce new investment in Britain despite fears of the impact of the vote to leave the EU in June.

ASOS chief executive Nick Beighton said: "The decision today is nothing to do with Brexit.

"These plans had been put together pre-June 23.

"ASOS is a mixture of fashion, technology, creative and design capability all in one place.

"There are very few places where you get that hotspot of those talents in one place so London's very good for that."

ASOS sells to customers in the US, mainland Europe and elsewhere as well as the UK.

The group enjoys annual sales of more than £1bn and has benefited from the fall in the pound as more than half of its revenue is from outside Britain.

ASOS has recently been dogged by claims about working conditions at its warehouse in Barnsley, South Yorkshire.

It has said the allegations are "inaccurate and misleading".