Crabtree & Evelyn is to overhaul its image this summer as it guns to double its UK store numbers.

The health and beauty retailer will introduce a fresh brand position to appeal to younger customers. Managing director of the UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa Catie Callender said: “We have loyal customers who have a fondness for the brand, so we want to expand on that. We want to build on our heritage and yet make it relevant for younger customers too.”

In the UK, Callender wants to at least double its 44-store portfolio, but a time frame is undecided. It will open at Westfield London in White City at the end of this year and Cardiff next year.

Crabtree & Evelyn will also consider introducing further concessions beyond its one concession in the UK at Allders in Croydon.

Callender also wants to strengthen its overseas portfolio, with particular focus on Russia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. “We have a great international business, but there is more we can do,” she said.

Further product ranges will be introduced in autumn and the retailer’s web site will be enhanced to add further customer interaction.

Callender has hired Peter Townsend, former Molton Brown vice-president of retail operations in the UK and EMEA, to join Crabtree & Evelyn as sales director. Townsend, who joins later this month, will oversee all the key sales channels and drive the new strategy.

The strategy will be implemented worldwide by Michael Stromberg, chief executive of US, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.

He joined at the end of last year from Limited Brands’ Bath & Body Works and hired Callender shortly after from Neal’s Yard Remedies to head the European arm.