As Frasers reported strong growth in profits and revenue driven by a “particularly strong year for sports retail”, chief executive Michael Murray said even Amazon cannot do what Frasers can.
Speaking to Retail Week, Murray said: “Frasers works with 18 of the Lyst Index’s top 20 hottest fashion brands. That’s a testament. There are not many businesses out there that can sell the majority of the world’s most aspirational global brands under one platform. Amazon can’t do it. We are in a very unique position. And that’s why we have been developing our key focus proposition in sports and luxury.”
This comes after Retail Week reported that Frasers is expected to replace John Lewis as the biggest fashion retailer in the UK within the next five years.
Frasers delivered strong double-digit growth in both revenue and profit in Murray’s first full year as chief executive of the business group known to lead with an aggressive acquisition strategy.
Ahead of its trading update, the group increased its stake in both Asos and Boohoo from 13.3% to 15.12% and from 5% to 6.7% respectively. Frasers also owns a 22.2% stake in ecommerce electrical retailers AO World and an 11.1% stake in Currys.
Murray said: “We are building out our strategic investments, which has been quite topical. Over the past few months, we’ve been very active in the marketplace. If you take a step back and look at our ecosystem, it has been built predominantly from strategic acquisitions and investments.
”If you look at Jack Wills, we acquired that two to four years ago and it is one of our biggest own brands now. Flannels was an acquired business of which we owned 51% and then bought 100%. We owned 11% of House of Frasers many years ago and we bought 100% of it when it went into administration. It is part of our DNA and we’ll continue to look at strategic investments that add value to our ecosystem.”
Speaking about the synergies with businesses like Currys and AO, Murray said: “If you look at our business on global grounds, we sell footwear, clothing and accessories. That’s what our whole operational background is built upon, which is being able to sell the same product types but different brands and different distribution channels.
“We don’t have our own home for electrical goods to compete with brands like Apple. We don’t want to have complications to our operational facilities by building one. Handling two-man deliveries is not what we do and the best way to strengthen our ecosystem is through strategic partnerships and it helps to have a strategic investment because people take partnerships a lot more seriously when you own a part of the company.”
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