The Fenwick family of the eponymous department store chain reportedly pocketed £4.8 million in dividends last year while admitting they were sceptical about the health of British retail.
The news comes as the retailer recorded a 1.2 per cent uptick in sales to £431.7 million for the year to January 29, according to files submitted to Companies House.
Meanwhile, pre-tax profits grew by around a quarter to £44.2 million in that same period.
READ MORE: Fenwick Colchester to finally open after £35m redevelopment
Chairman Mark Fenwick, the fifth-generation Fenwick family member heading up the upmarket department store, said that despite positive like-for-like sales, they remained “cautious about UK retail prospects”.
The retailer said the cost pressures of the National Living Wage – which came into effect in april this year, after the accounts were filed at Companies House – and the anticipated hike in business rates in London in April next year would be “significant” for the sector.
With 11 stores in its portfolio at the moment, Fenwick plans to relaunch its online retail website later this year and open a new store in The Lexicon, Bracknell in 2017.
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