After delivering a jump in pre-tax profit at its half-year stage, Moss Bros is in a confident enough mood to step up its overseas plans.

The formal menswear chain has started selling on Asos and Amazon’s US platform and will launch on La Redoute in the coming weeks.

Despite the current economic and political climate, it is encouraging to see that British businesses remain keen on broadening their horizons, albeit tentatively.

But should Moss Bros’ initial moves prove successful, they could represent a foundation for solid international growth.

Elsewhere today, Shoe Zone boss Nick Davis has lifted the lid on the retailer’s big-box ambitions and the competition watchdog has raised concerns over the Vision Express acquisition of Tesco Opticians.

Quote of the day

“There are too many moving parts in a department store group to have ambiguity over the leadership question”

– Lesley Exley, managing director of Exley Hervey Executive Search, has her say on the management restructure at Harvey Nichols

Today in numbers

3

The number of local areas in which consumers could receive “a worse deal” following the Vision Express acquisition of Tesco Opticians, according to the CMA. 

50

The number of big-box stores Shoe Zone is eyeing in “the next few years”.

Tomorrow’s agenda

The GfK provides its latest consumer confidence barometer and we review the biggest news from the past seven days in the latest episode of The Retail Week. 

Luke Tugby, head of content