No Irish plans for House of Fraser

HOUSE of Fraser’s only Irish shop is performing well, yet the company has no plans for expansion in Ireland.

That’s according to the company’s chief executive, John Colman who said they are very pleased with the performance of their store at the Dundrum Shopping Centre.

“Dundrum is a fantastic centre and we are pleased with how our store is doing, also customer feedback is very good. It is unlikely we will establish another store in Ireland in the near future, we have no plans to do so.”

Mr Colman’s comments came on the same day the company reported a 4.6% rise in annual profits.

The figures were revealed just a week after the collapse of takeover talks between House of Fraser and a third party, thought to be private equity firm Apax Partners.

Analysts had put a price tag of around £300 million (€434m) on the firm.

Mr Coleman said: “We previously expected trading during the first half of 2006 to be difficult, although we are pleased the first seven weeks have been ahead of our original expectations.”

House of Fraser said the improving sales trend was especially pleasing as rival retailers had been launching promotional deals to attract shoppers. They also said sales at the same stage last year were inflated by Mother’s Day, which is later in the calendar this year.

Chairman Michael Wemms said: “Whilst we are encouraged by the start we have made for the year, we do anticipate that the retail market will continue to be difficult for at least the first half of 2006.”

House of Fraser owns 60 stores around Britain.

Over the last year the company focused on introducing new brands, including concessions for Mulberry accessories and Japanese homeware firm Muji.

The supply chain was also speeded up so House of Fraser could compete more effectively with companies such as Zara and H&M, which update their fashion designs regularly to ensure shoppers make regular trips to their stores.