Ethel Austin Announces Ambitious Expansion Plans

Ethel Austin, the UK value retailer, has announced it is planning a 200 store expansion over the next five years of its clothing stores.The drive for growth, which would create 2,500 new jobs totalling the store chain to 470 outlets, was described as "sensible and sustainable" by Ethel Austin chief executive Phil Hoskinson.

The company confirmed last month that its has held preliminary talks with a number of potential buyers, and the announcement will send a clear signal to interested parties that the current management believes there is strong potential in the brand.

Hoskinson, who led a management buy-out of Ethel Austin two years ago, said: "We have put a lot of effort into making sure that as a business we can support this prospective level of growth but this programme has not appeared suddenly. We have been constantly growing sales and profits and rolling-out stores. But all that has been done with the central aim of ensuring that the progress will be continued well into the long-term and the current management team will be here to see that happens."

In the year to the end of August 2003, Ethel Austin's operating profits rose to £12.5m, a 158 per cent increase on the previous year. Turnover grew by 13 per cent to £138m, with like-for-like sales growth in excess of seven per cent. There are plans in place for 35 new stores this year.