Frasers Group首席执行官Mike Ashley周四宣布收购经营困难的高端百货连锁店Harvey Nichols[1]。这家拥有13家门店和1200名员工的百货公司因疫情后高消费外国游客减少以及持续亏损而被迫出售[1]。Harvey Nichols在截至2025年3月29日的年度账目中报税后亏损1.05亿英镑，公司董事会警告称该公司不是持续经营企业，将在一年内耗尽资金[1]。
根据收购计划，Frasers将收购Harvey Nichols位于伦敦、爱丁堡、伯明翰、利兹和曼彻斯特的五家主要门店，并对其进行重组和品牌重塑[1]。集团计划保留Knightsbridge和爱丁堡门店，同时将伯明翰、利兹、曼彻斯特、布里斯托尔和都柏林的四家门店更名为House of Fraser或Flannels[1]。Frasers Group首席执行官Michael Murray表示："Harvey Nichols是一个标志性的英国机构，具有巨大潜力，但显然需要进行有意义的改变"[1]。Mike Ashley周五向《金融时报》表示Harvey Nichols处于"死亡螺旋"中，将是一个"巨大的挑战"来扭转局面[1]。
Harvey Nichols于1889年在Knightsbridge开设，1991年由Dickson Poon以5300万英镑收购[1]。
Mike Ashley, chief executive of Frasers Group and owner of Sports Direct, announced on Thursday the acquisition of Harvey Nichols, a struggling luxury department store chain facing severe financial distress [1]. The purchase comes as Harvey Nichols, which operates 13 stores and employs 1,200 staff members, has been unable to recover from declining tourist spending following the pandemic and has posted consecutive losses [1].
Frasers will take control of Harvey Nichols' five major stores in London, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds, and Manchester, with plans to restructure and rebrand the business [1]. The financial situation at Harvey Nichols had become critical: the company reported a post-tax loss of £105 million in its annual accounts for March 29, 2025, and its board warned that the business would exhaust its cash reserves within a year and was not a going concern [1]. Ashley told the Financial Times that Harvey Nichols was caught in a "death spiral" and would present a "massive challenge" to turn around [1].
Michael Murray, chief executive of Frasers Group, acknowledged the scale of the task ahead, stating that "Harvey Nichols is an iconic British institution with enormous potential, but clearly needs meaningful change" [1]. The retailer's fate marks a significant shift for the business, which was founded in Knightsbridge in 1889 and was acquired by Dickson Poon in 1991 for £53 million [1]. Under the new ownership, Frasers plans to retain the Knightsbridge and Edinburgh stores while rebranding locations in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Bristol, and Dublin as either House of Fraser or Flannels outlets [1].