FAMILY-owned luxury goods retailer House of Bruar has been put up for sale in a move that could net founders Mark and Linda Birkbeck a £40 million retirement gift.
The day-to-day running of House of Bruar, which occupies a 73,000 square foot site three miles north of Blair Atholl, has been handled by eldest son Patrick, its managing director, for the last decade.
But a strategic review of the business has been launched following the decision of the couple, who founded the business in 1993, to formalise their withdrawal from the business,
Indicative offers of around £50m have previously been received for the company. Mark and Linda Brikbeck still own 79.9% of its shares with other family members holding smaller stakes, according to documents filed with Companies House. This could see them net £40m from a sale.
Mark Birkbeck said: “The House of Bruar is a unique and wonderful business with masses of potential.”
Patrick Birkbeck, who works alongside brother Tom at House of Bruar, told The Herald: “I intend to stay with the business although clearly if someone comes in and kicks me out, they kick me out.”
The company said: “The strategic review includes the possibility of the sale of the company, provided that, a fair price reflecting the significance of the House of Bruar can be agreed with a potential buyer. If it is not, then the shareholders will pursue their other alternatives and retain their ownership of the company.”
It added: “The strategic review acknowledges the fact that in recent years a number of parties have expressed an interest to the owners in investing both in the site and brand given the potential these offer for further development.
“It should be understood that the existing management team is committed to the future of the company either independently or in conjunction with a suitable owner should one be identified.”
Some 200 people work at the business whose pre-tax profit rose 3.2% to £4.1m in the year ended January 31, 2010 as some £17.5m passed through its tills.
The company has continued to expand adding a £3.8m menswear wing a year and estimates that it receives one million visitors a year.
The business is expected to achieve turnover of £2m and earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of £4.7m in the current financial year. Turnover and Ebitda are expected to grow 8% and 9% respectively next year.
The House of Bruar said: “The shareholders consider that the business has a significant number of growth opportunities which can be realised in the next phase of its development.”
It added: “In particular, growth could be assisted by identifying a suitable purchaser equipped to take the maximum advantage of e-commerce and international brand expansion.”
‘‘
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article