Last Updated: 2024.11.07
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Now is the Time to Grow
In today's world, corporations compete in a global arena. In the past, a company might have been managed within a single national framework, but, today, things are completely different and companies must assume the global market as their basic premise. At the same time, people are always questioning who is providing reliable products and services, and companies are expected to prove they are useful to society.
Fast Retailing's stock price has increased to nearly 100 times it original listing price, and consolidated revenue topped 3 trillion yen for the first time in fiscal 2024 (September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2024). Throughout our corporate history, we have always thought carefully about what is the right thing to do for society from a long-term perspective, and managed the company accordingly. The world is currently undergoing dramatic changes and the groundwork for our company's expansion is now largely in place, so I think now is the ideal time to pursue our next phase of growth.
Investing in human resources is the most significant factor underpinning this future growth. In addition to discovering and training management talent for the whole Group, it is also important to nurture the store managers and salespeople who support our global store network. We have a solid training system in place that enables employees to gain a deep understanding of our corporate philosophy and values and to consistently develop their own careers and fulfil their aspirations. We will continue to avidly invest in human resource development into the future. Currently, I spend much of my time nurturing future management successors. When I talk about management succession, I mean ensuring each individual is able to independently put into practice the thinking that I myself have implemented over many years. Fortunately, we have successfully trained managers who have grown to deeply empathize with the company's philosophy and contributed to the company's growth. Today, executive managers from our global headquarters travel directly to different sites to identify issues together with local management teams and employees. This is a great example of true Zen-in Keiei management principles in action, where all employees adopt a managerial mindset, explore the best options from a global perspective, and act accordingly.
2024 marks the 40th anniversary of our UNIQLO brand and the 30th year since Fast Retailing was first listed. As a firm with Japanese roots, we have always single-mindedly and earnestly carried out the obvious tasks required to offer the very best products and the very best services to our customers. The most important thing for a company is to be able to operate as a going concern over the long term that consistently contributes to the interests of society at large. Whether it is our 50th, 60th, or 100th anniversary, we will continue to strive to generate further growth and fulfill these long-term aims.
November, 2024
Tadashi Yanai
Chairman, President and CEO
