Young fashion footwear retailer Office has today announced a senior addition to its board after posting a significant sales increase over the Christmas period.
Allan Leighton, former CEO of Asda, has joined the business, which was acquired by European private equity firm Silverfleet Capital 13 months ago, as a non-executive director and will add plenty of experience to a brand which is growing in stature.
In the five weeks to December 31st 2011 like-for-like sales at Office grew 26 per cent year-on-year, following an increase of 19 per cent for the same period in 2010.
Having been first established in 1981, Office now has 84 stand-alone stores in the UK & Ireland along with 52 concessions which include fascias in the international outlets of Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Topshop.
Brian McCluskey, CEO of Office, commented on the results: “The business has been performing strongly all year, with 12 month like-for-like growth in excess of 15 per cent (previous year comparative 11.4 per cent).
“During 2011 we have opened eight stores and eight concessions and all have traded significantly ahead of expectations.
“This is a very credible performance particularly in the current environment and is testament to the incredible team of people we have here at Office and the fantastic brands and suppliers we work with.”
The appointment of Leighton comes after former Managing Director of youth fashion brand Jane Norman joined the business as its new Finance Director last September.
Leighton today described Office as a “great brand” and said that the retailer had “significant opportunity for further growth” in the years to come.
McCluskey added: “Over the coming 12 months we will look at opening between six to eight stores and continue to invest heavily in our web business.
“In addition Allan and Ian‘s appointments are good news for Office. Both are experienced operators who will have much to contribute to our ongoing expansion. We look forward to the next phase of our development.”
