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Peacocks massive store opening

Peacocks will open one of its biggest UK stores in Southampton in May, creating 70 jobs. The discount fashion chain, which is investing £21.5 million in a major expansion plan, will open in the city centre, joining rivals Primark and New Look. Also new in Southampton is the Spanish fast fashion chain Zara.

“Peacocks is the UK 's hottest value fashion retailer and Southampton will be one of the biggest store spaces we open this year,” said managing director Tim Bettley. “ Southampton shoppers want fast fasion and trend-led must-haves at the best prices; that's what our new store will be about.”

In addition to its existing 470 stores, the chain is opening a further 30 new stores. Peacocks introduces between 30 and 50 new ranges in its stores every week, in reaction to constantly changing fashion trends. In 2005, the chain was named Best Value Retailer.

www.peacocks.co.uk
1 March 2007

Peacocks geared up for expansion

The Peacock Group, which owns Peacocks, Bon Marche and The Fragrance Shop, is set to open over 60 new stores as part of a £15 investment programme.
Peacocks and Bon Marche will both increase by 30-plus, while three new stores will be added to The Fragrance Shop’s portfolio, in addition to a £2.5 refurbishment programme for the perfumery.

Richard Kirk, CEO of the Group states: “Our brands are among the most exciting growth stories on the high street today. We know what our customers want and each of our brands is very focused on its core target markets.

16 June 2006

Peacock reports sales rise

British retail group Peacock has reported a 12 percent sales increase in the 13 week period ended 31 December. The group, which consists of Peacocks, Bonmarche and The Fragrance Shop, said it experienced a 7 percent rise in gross profit, which was unaffected by the opening of new stores.

Peacocks enjoyed “excellent” trading results, thanks largely to female shoppers. The retailer opened 10 new stores during the period. Meanwhile, women's clothing retailer Bonmarche saw a “fairly high level of clearance activity” during the quarter and opened seven stores in the third quarter.

The Fragrance Shop occupied another 15 locations during the quarter as Peacock attempted to increase its scope. The group has not yet completed the acquisition of Henson No1, which is currently being sanctioned by the High Court.

www.peacocks.co.uk
12 January 2006

Peacock buyout at £410m

Peacock will today become the latest UK retailer to be taken pr ivate when it announces it has agreed to a management buy-out valuing the high street discount chain at about £410m. John Lovering, former chairman of the group, will invest £9.2m in the buy-out through Echelon Partners, his investment vehicle, in exchange for a substantial stake in the company and a seat on the board. Och-Ziff and Perry Capital, two US hedge funds that helped finance the takeover of Manchester United earlier this year, will pr ovide £70m each. Goldman Sachs Capital Partners will pr ovide a further £28m.

Cardiff-based Peacock was founded in 1882 as Peacock's Penny Bazaar. It has more than 700 stores in the UK . The group announced in August that it had received an ap pr oach from one potential suitor that was later revealed to be Goldman Sachs' pr ivate equity division. That development came five months after Peacock revealed it was in early talks, only to announce a day later that the ap pr oach had been withdrawn.

Earlier this month, the group gave an upbeat trading statement in which it said that all three divisions had shown underlying sales growth in the 13 weeks to October 1. Sales rose 12 per cent and the management said it was optimistic of hitting full-year expectations. The group said Peacock shops had continued to trade strongly, Bonmarché had im pr oved on a weak performance last year and eight new Fragrance Shops had been opened. Mr Lovering, who is also heading the consortium that has agreed to buy Somerfield, stepped down from Peacock in February to concentrate on his role as non-executive chairman at Debenhams.

31 October 2005

Peacocks in takeover bid

The discount fashion chain Peacocks confirmed yesterday that it was the subject of a takeover approach valuing the company at around £400m. The high street retailer, which revealed last month that it had received an indicative approach from an unnamed party, announced that the approach would value the business at 340.5p a share.

In a statement, the chain said discussions were at a "preliminary stage", adding: "The board would wish to stress that ... the proposals being considered are subject to a number of material preconditions and there is no certainty that any offer will be made for the company."

20 September 2005

Peacocks does its name proud

The Peacock Group is enjoying the fruits of the strategic changes it has made to its business. With supermarket chains like Tesco and Asda offering clothing, the high street retailer was forced to reconsider its options: face the concequences of lower margins or implement changes. According to the Group's most recent quarterly results, Peacocks registered an underlying sales growth of 4.3 percent. In contrast Matalan sales fell 7.5 percent and M&S sales dropped 4.3 percent.

“If we hadn't done something we would have been eaten alive,” chief executive Richard Kirk told the FT. With 55 percent of the group's revenue coming from women's wear and the less affluent being the most trend concious, Kirk pointed out that the change was obvious. “There's no doubt people from Liverpool and Tyneside are more sensitive to high-street fashion than those in London ,” he said. “There, people are too concerned with paying the mortgage.”

The Group has refurbished its stores to reflect the new style. As further part of the new strategy, Peacocks' Bonmarché chain – aimed at older women - has divided its range into three categories: classic for the 55+ age group, contemporary for the 50-65 age group and fashion for the 45-55 group. The move has transformed the group, whose sales fell drastically last year. “Some of our customers are very conservative, but the 45-65 year olds still want to stay in touch,” said Kirk. Furthermore, the Group has added to its buying team and is making more use of freelance designers and fashion forecasters. It has also enhanced its supply chain, now sourcing from Turkey and eastern Europe as well as from Far East Asia.

Through franchise operator Alshaya, Peacocks has 15 franchise storesin Turkey and the Middle East . “The Mideast is not the ideal location but it is the perfect step to the Far East and eastern Europe,” said Kirk. “Hopefully, we'll be opening our first shop in Ukraine in the autumn and maybe Russia after that.”

www.peacocks.co.uk
11 August 2005

Peacock sales increase

British value-for-money retailer Peacock reported a sales increase of 11.8 per cent to GBP 548.2 million. The company announced its preliminary results at the end of May, revealing a buoyant year.

The Group's like-for-like sales were up 3.6 per cent. Profit before tax climbed 6.9 per cent to GBP 38.5 million and gross product margins increased significantly across the board. Dividends per share increased 11.5 per cent to 8.7 pence. The stores value fashion focus continues to drive strong and consistent growth.

Peacock opened a record 95 new stores under three retail franchises and refurbished 101 further stores. 80 per cent of all Peacock store now exist in the new format. The Group's other two businesses, Bonmarché and The Fragrance Shop, met expectations. Bonmarché management strengthened and improved its offer and the Fragrance Shop accelerated its expansion. The Group plans 80 new stores this year, creatingly roughly 800 new jobs.

"Our strategic change programme has transformed Peacocks into a fashionable chain that is able to compete with the best on the high street, at compelling value prices. We are now undertaking a similar process to align Bonmarché more closely with the needs of today's consumers, and expect this to deliver significant benefits in the medium-term. The successful acquisition of The Fragrance Shop gives us a third strong brand with which to address the growing value retail market, and we are applying our established skills to drive rapid expansion of its concept," said Chief Executive Richard Kirk.

www.peacocks.co.uk
1 June 2005

Peacock enhances profitability

The British value retailer The Peacock Group is implementing Freeborders'100% browser-based Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software. With this new software tool the company hopes to enhance its effectiveness and the speed with which products are brought to market, thereby pushing revenue growth. The new PLM software should drive the Group's revenues by improving sourcing, inventory management and other operational activities.

The Group operates 760 stores under the Peacocks and Bonmarché brands and sells clothing, footwear and housewares. Tim Bettley, managing director of the Peacocks Division told reporters: "With the expansion of the Peacocks chain and the acquisition of Bonmarché in 2002, it became clear that we required technology solutions that would scale to meet the growth and enable us to better collaborate and speed products to market."

Freeborders Product Manager will allow real-time coordination between the Peacock Group and its supply chain. Furthermore, it will shorten the product lifecycle and enable the company to expand its product lines faster.

Freeborders Workflow is a web-based tool that manages the global lifecycle of products. This entails product planning through to design, production and delivery. With this tool the retailer will be able to locate the product, and automatically track and revise its internal and external whereabouts. According to the managing director of Freeborders Europe, Mark Harrop, "speed-to-market is the key factor that enables retailers to maintain competitive edge and to improve their profitability."

www.freeborders.com
www.peacocks.co.uk
11 January 2005

Strong Growth For Peacock Group

Value clothing retailer Peacock Group has reported strong profit growth at the end of an 'outstanding' year for the UK retail group, with a major store opening programme driving sales.

In the year to the end of March, total sales grew by 23.7 per cent to GBP490.4m, with group like-for-like sales up 3.5 per cent. Pre-tax profits are up 59.8 per cent to GBP32.4m

The year saw 81 new stores opened across the group's formats, to give the group 397 Peacocks stores with a family clothing offer, as well as 314 Bonmarche stores, with a clothing offer pitched at women aged 45-plus.
Peacock has also announced an expansion of the group's formats with the acquisition of The Fragance Shop chain, which specialises in branded perfumes.

New chairman Gavin Simonds said he was delighted his public duty "is to report outstanding results for the year, with both divisions delivering excellent profit growth." The Peacocks chain's total sales rose by 12.9 per cent across the year, with 5.8 per cent like-for-like growth. More than half its stores have now been revamped into a new format, with plans for at least 60 more refurbishments and 20 new stores in the UK.

2 June 2004