New Look POLITICAL

Corporate Communications & Public Stance

No public evidence identified of a New Look corporate statement, press release, or current-leadership comment specifically addressing Israel-Palestine, Gaza, the October 2023 escalation, the July 2024 ICJ advisory opinion, or the November 2024 ICC arrest warrants.^{1, 2} New Look publicly exited Russia and Ukraine retail operations in 2014, describing the decision in the context of political uncertainty, while its 2021 Pride content profiled LGBTQ+ staff; these are public communications on different subjects and do not establish a comparable Israel-Palestine position.^{3, 4}

No public evidence identified in the completed targeted searches of a Brait, Franklin Templeton, BSP/Alcentra, or identified attributable-principal statement specifically addressing Israel-Palestine or Gaza.^{5, 6} Franklin Templeton’s January 2026 BSP/Alcentra brand-alignment release refers to institutional-investor survey coverage that included Israel among several countries, but does not announce Israel-based operations, political advocacy, or conflict-related activity.⁵

No public evidence identified in the reviewed current corporate materials of New Look retail operations in Israel.^{1, 7} The historical 2007 Landmark agreement envisaged approximately 40 stores in specified Middle East countries, with Israel absent from the named list; that expansion plan does not establish the current estate.⁸

Operations in Occupied or Contested Territories

No public evidence identified of New Look stores, franchisees, distributors, subsidiaries, service contracts, or published product sourcing in Israel, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, or Israeli settlements.^{9, 10, 11} New Look does not appear in the UN OHCHR business-and-human-rights database concerning enterprises involved in specified settlement-related activities; OHCHR’s September 2025 update reported 158 enterprises from 11 countries.^{9, 10} Reporting on that update identifies companies including Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, TripAdvisor, and Heidelberg Materials AG, but does not name New Look.¹²

No public evidence identified in the reviewed document set of a New Look, Brait, Alcentra/BSP, or Franklin-controlled-entity contract or operational record in occupied territory. The completed no-hit checks were document-scoped and do not establish database-wide or historic absence across every external database.

New Look’s FY2025 accounts state that its Irish business entered liquidation and ceased being a subsidiary on 20 February 2025, with stores closed in March 2025. This does not establish an Israel/OPT presence.⁷ No public evidence identified of legal challenges, regulatory action or international-body scrutiny of New Look concerning occupied-territory operations.^{9, 10}

A partisan clearance source rates New Look “Boycott Safe” and asserts that it found no verified Israel ties; this is secondary advocacy material, not independent proof of absence.¹³ New Look does not appear on Ethical Consumer’s Palestine boycott list or Muslim Girl’s list of BDS-targeted apparel brands, which names other retailers instead.^{14, 15} No public evidence identified of an organised boycott, divestment, or sanctions campaign targeting New Look.^{13, 14, 15}

Internal Governance, Content & Retail Policies

No public evidence identified of New Look HR action, disciplinary cases, litigation, political-symbol disputes, union disputes, or retail-policy controversies specifically concerning Israel-Palestine-related speech or activity. New Look is a physical and e-commerce fashion retailer rather than a content-platform operator; platform or editorial-moderation policy is therefore not applicable.

No public evidence identified of regulatory inquiries into New Look algorithmic moderation, editorial stances, product labelling, sourcing, or categorisation concerning Israel or Israeli settlements.¹¹ New Look’s current factory disclosure states that it works through 83 suppliers, 283 Tier 1 factories, and 997 known beyond-Tier-1 factories, and lists 14 Tier 1 sourcing countries: Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Cambodia, China, Egypt, India, Italy, Morocco, Romania, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.¹¹ Israel is not among those listed countries.¹¹ This disclosure does not independently exclude indirect inputs, financing relationships, franchise arrangements, or activity outside its stated factory-list scope.¹¹

Brand Heritage & State Partnerships

No public evidence identified that New Look uses military heritage, defence-sector ties, state-security origins, or Israeli state associations in its branding or public relations.^{16, 17} Its reported founding narrative concerns Tom Singh opening the first Taunton store in 1969 with a family loan.^{16, 17}

No public evidence identified of New Look accepting state honours, hosting Israeli government officials, sponsoring “Brand Israel”-style cultural or public-relations campaigns, or holding Israeli state partnerships. No new source identified comparable New Look-linked branding, sponsorship, or institutional partnership by Brait, BSP/Alcentra, or Franklin Templeton.

Lobbying, Advocacy, Financing & Logistics

No public evidence identified of New Look corporate lobbying, PAC activity, political donations, anti-BDS advocacy, or leadership roles in geopolitical pressure groups concerning Israel-Palestine, boycotts, or related trade legislation. The completed research did not retrieve an official UK lobbying-register result page for New Look, Brait, Alcentra/BSP, or Franklin Resources; this is not a register-wide assertion.

No public evidence identified in the specified targeted searches of corporate donations, sponsorships, logistics mobilisation, political-spending disclosures, or leadership roles by New Look, Brait, Alcentra/BSP, Franklin Resources, or identified attributable principals directed to FIDF, JNF/KKL, Lev Echad, Israeli reservist funds, settlement bodies, Regavim, Im Tirtzu, or comparable military-welfare, settlement-support, or Israel-Palestine advocacy bodies.⁶ This conclusion is limited to the completed searches and reviewed sources rather than an audit of every global donation record.

Franklin Resources’ 2026 proxy records that its Corporate Governance Committee oversees political activities and approves a Political Activities Statement, but the proxy contains no Israel or Palestine text match; it therefore establishes a general governance process, not Israel-Palestine-related political activity, donation, or lobbying.⁶ No public evidence identified of post-19 July 2024 or post-November 2024 continuation or escalation of a verified New Look-linked political or military-support activity, because no underlying activity of that kind was substantiated.

A 5 November 2014 South African Jewish Report article identifies “Christo and Rina Wiese” as Christian Friends of Israel contacts, but does not establish that this Christo Wiese was Brait’s shareholder, document a donation or amount, or provide a New Look connection.¹⁸ The same-name lead remains unresolved and is not attributable to Brait or New Look.¹⁸

Corporate Structure & Primary Mission

New Look Retailers Limited (company number 01618428) is an active English private limited company, incorporated on 1 March 1982, with registered activities including specialised clothing, footwear and leather-goods retail and mail-order/internet retail.¹⁹ Its latest filed accounts are to 29 March 2025 and its latest confirmation statement is dated 10 August 2026.¹⁹

Companies House records New Look Limited (company number 01996366) as New Look Retailers Limited’s sole active person with significant control, holding at least 75% of shares and voting rights and the right to appoint or remove directors.²⁰ New Look Limited is an active English private limited company, incorporated on 5 March 1986, with SIC 70100, “activities of head offices.”²¹ Its PSC record contains an active statement, notified on 3 May 2019, that it knows or has reasonable cause to believe no registrable person or registrable relevant legal entity exists in relation to that company; this is a Companies House disclosure position and does not prove that no investor, creditor, or contractual governance rights exist outside the UK PSC definition.²²

Following the 2015 acquisition, Brait acquired a controlling stake reported at approximately 90%, with founder Tom Singh and management retaining a minority interest.^{23, 24} That historical position does not describe the current capital structure. Brait’s 2025 annual financial statements reported 18.3% participation in New Look shareholder loans/PIK facilities and 17.24% residual equity participation after management-incentive dilution, expected to dilute to approximately 8% following the then-announced capital raise; the shareholder loan was stated to mature in November 2029 and the PIK facility in November 2027.²⁵

On 30 April 2025, Brait stated that it did not participate in the new £30 million cash financing while retaining shareholder protections and a New Look board position.²⁶ New Look’s FY2025 accounts describe the financing as a £31.6 million PIK commitment, £30 million net cash after discount, with warrants; Brait’s FY2026 report confirms 0% participation in that new senior-priority PIK tranche, 18.3% in priority/existing PIK and shareholder funding, and 8.1% equity at 31 March 2026. The carrying value was approximately £32 million/R723 million. Selling the remaining stake remained an objective rather than a completed disposal.^{27, 28, 7, 29}

Franklin Templeton acquired Alcentra from BNY Mellon in 2022.³⁰ Franklin announced in January 2026 that Alcentra and Benefit Street Partners had been aligned under the BSP brand as the final step in their integration.⁵ BSP states that it is wholly owned by Franklin Templeton while retaining investment and operational independence.³¹

New Look Retail Holdings Limited’s FY2025 accounts identify Laurence Raven and Stuart MacKenzie as investor directors representing the majority shareholders. The board has equal votes and a chairman’s casting vote; shareholder/board reserved matters include borrowing limits, dividends, business acquisitions/disposals, capital changes and senior appointments.⁷ Brait’s FY2026 report identifies Raven as an Alcentra managing director who joined New Look’s board in November 2020 and MacKenzie as a TRG partner following its acquisition of Ethos.²⁹ Sky’s April 2025 reporting identifies Alcentra and Brait as shareholders since the 2020 restructuring.³² This supplies a reported ownership and documented investor-governance connection; the reviewed sources do not give the exact current Alcentra/BSP fund vehicle, beneficial share percentage, allocation of all contractual rights, or a record of New Look directing another Franklin-managed fund’s investments.^{7, 29, 32}

New Look Group publishes financial disclosures and reports directly.¹ No public evidence identified of a state-held golden share, state ownership stake, or constitutional or charter mandate tying New Look’s mission to a state geopolitical objective.^{1, 20, 22} New Look’s primary mission is consistent with a commercial fashion retailer’s activities rather than a state-directed mandate.¹⁹

Christo Wiese’s reported Steinhoff-related losses and litigation do not themselves establish a connection to New Look’s operations.^{33, 34, 35} Brait’s June 2026 results identify Titan and affiliates as holding 39.3% of Brait ordinary shares; its 2021 prospectus describes Titan Group as representing Christo Wiese’s interests. Those are Brait-level influence facts, not a verified equivalent New Look voting percentage or an identity match for the 2014 CFI contact.^{18, 27, 36}

The political searches and sources reviewed here did not substantiate a direct New Look-linked political donation or advocacy act. The ownership findings are retained with their stated rights and limits; securities positions reported by separately managed funds are addressed in the economic and technology audits.^{26, 5, 6, 7, 29}

Executive & Leadership Footprint

New Look’s published commercial board comprises Mike Coupe as non-executive chairman, Helen Connolly as CEO, Richard Collyer as CFO, Colin Henry and Robin Terrell as independent non-executive directors, and Stuart MacKenzie and Laurence Raven as non-executive directors.² Mike Coupe was appointed chairman in September 2021 after having served as Sainsbury’s CEO from 2014 to 2020.³⁷ Helen Connolly was promoted to New Look CEO in 2022.³⁸

Companies House identifies Richard John Collyer, Helen Louise Connolly, and Clare Mackay Dobbie as active statutory directors of both New Look Limited and New Look Retailers Limited; Connolly’s appointment is recorded as 8 April 2025 at New Look Limited and 16 December 2020 at New Look Retailers Limited.^{39, 40} The statutory-director record and New Look’s broader commercial-board presentation are not interchangeable.^{2, 39, 40}

Tom Singh ceased being a director of New Look Retailers Limited on 25 April 2020.⁴¹ Secondary biographical sources associate him with the Pakhar Foundation, New Look Foundation, British Asian Trust, NSPCC support and Rianta Philanthropy; the reviewed material does not include primary grant schedules for those vehicles.^{16, 17} No public evidence identified in the completed targeted searches of an Israel-Palestine-related act by Singh; this is not a review of all foundation grants and does not establish the absence of unreviewed contributions.

In July 2014, a “Taste the Indifference” campaign letter addressed to Mike Coupe as incoming Sainsbury’s CEO urged Sainsbury’s to stop trading with suppliers sourcing from West Bank settlements, naming SodaStream, Mehadrin, and Edom.⁴² This preceded Coupe’s New Look chairmanship by approximately seven years, occurred at another company, and does not establish a New Look-linked act.^{37, 42}

Franklin Resources’ 2026 proxy identifies Jennifer M. Johnson as CEO, Gregory E. Johnson as executive chairman, and Rupert H. Johnson, Jr. as vice chairman; it records beneficial ownership of 20.0% of Franklin Resources common stock by Rupert H. Johnson, Jr. and 18.9% by Charles B. Johnson as of 5 December 2025, and identifies family relationships among Jennifer M. Johnson, Gregory E. Johnson, and Rupert H. Johnson, Jr.⁶

No public evidence identified in the completed targeted searches of Israel-Palestine statements, targeted donations, anti-BDS advocacy, FIDF/JNF support, settlement links, or relevant organisational offices by current New Look directors and executives, Brait, BSP/Alcentra, Franklin Resources, or the identified Franklin principals.^{2, 18, 6} No qualifying attributable Israel-Palestine act was substantiated; consequently, the reviewed evidence documents no actor, date, capacity, corporate funding or branding, persistence, audience, and New Look control connection for such an act.^{18, 26, 28, 5, 6}