OKA has designs on rapid growth

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Furniture and interiors retailer OKA is seeking to open up to 20 stores in the next three years, as it bucked the downturn to post a 28 per cent increase in like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to March 29.

OKA, co-founded in 1999 by Tory leader David Cameron's mother-in-law Lady Annabel Astor, has 10 stores and there will be new openings this year in Cambridgeshire, Cheltenham and north London.

The retailer is in negotiation with a franchisee in the Middle East. It is also exploring Europe for potential sites.

Private equity firm Fleming Family & Partners invested in OKA last August. OKA finance director Tracey Alston said the investment "means everything is in place for the business to grow".

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