Lifestyle retailer Joules sells Rampant brand

Lifestyle clothing retailer Joules is to sell its Rampant

Sporting brand to a major retail group.

Market Harborough based Joules has confirmed that it is no longer in a position to support the young fashion brand which made a loss of £400,000 in the year to 27 May despite fast growing sales.

Joules acquired Rampant in 2010 and increased the brand’s sales from £100,000 to over £2 million in the last financial year. Chief executive Tom Joule says that the sale to a major retail group should be completed "within a week". Joules will retain a minority stake in the business.

Explaining the reasons for the sale, Joule told the newspaper: "It's a good brand and it's going in the right direction. It just needs more attention than we can't give it.

"We would have hoped Rampant would have got into profit quicker than it did. When things are tough, you have to concentrate on your core business. If it was a more benign time, it wouldn't be an issue."

The company, which operates 65 stores, increased its sales by 9.3% to £66.6 million in the year after completing a restructuring programme.