Next in bid to revive UK sales

Fashion retailer Next pledged today to “revitalise” its brand as it works to revamp its image in a bid to stem falling sales on the high street in the UK.

The company saw like-for-like retail sales drop by 7.2% in the year to January 27, with a further 0.3% fall in the first seven weeks of the current year.

However, pre-tax profits for the year grew 6.5% to £478m (€703m) after soaring sales at its Directory business offset the in-store declines.

Chief executive Simon Wolfson said: “Like-for-like retail sales were a disappointment and stabilising this measure will be our primary goal.

“What we have to do is simple, but not easy – recapture some of the magic and excitement that has gone hand in hand with the success of Next over many years.”

He said the group had taken steps to revitalise the brand over the last six months, and these changes should become more apparent during the year, but said this process would be ramped up in the months ahead as the group moves to allay competition.