QUIZ Clothing, the Glasgow-based fashion chain, will open a new store in Birmingham's Bullring at the end of this month as it pursues a strategy of rapid expansion south of the border.
The firm, owned by brothers Tarak and Khalid Ramzan, has doubled its number of outlets within the last two years to more than 40, 17 of which are in Scotland.
''Our future expansion will mainly be in the south of England,'' said Tarak Ramzan, the managing director. ''We have Scotland pretty well covered.''
Quiz also has a strong presence in the Newcastle and Manchester areas and also has shops in Northern Ireland.
Tarak Clothing Company, which trades as Quiz, began life as a textiles manufacturer back in 1965 and did not expand into retailing until the early 1990s. Today just eight of its 320 staff are engaged in making own-brand products, all of whom are based at the Glasgow head office in Hydepark Street.
Quiz describes its target audience as the ''fashion-conscious 15-35 women's wear market'' and the retailer now stocks other labels in addition to its own.
In the year to November 30 2002, Tarak Clothing Company posted a 30% rise in sales, to (pounds) 16m. This year, revenues are expected to top (pounds) 18m, Tarak Ramzan said.
Pre-tax profits were down slightly last year at (pounds) 706,000, but the managing director stressed that the company funds each new store opening from its own resources. Fitting out and equipping a new store costs about (pounds) 160,000, he said.
''We are spending about (pounds) 1.5m a year on shop-fits and still making a profit, which shows we have a pretty sound financial base,'' he added.
The Ramzans have featured in the rankings of Scotland's richest Asian entrepreneurs, alongside figures such as Maq Rasul, owner of Global Video, and Labour MP Mohammed Sarwar, of United Wholesale.
Tarak Ramzan said the brothers intend to keep the business in the family. He said: ''We want to keep going and see where this takes us - we're holding our own in a tough market.''
Tarak Clothing paid its two directors (pounds) 81,000 in 2002, a 36% fall on 2001. They also shared far less in total dividends, down from (pounds) 122,000 to (pounds) 31,000 on the year.
However, it is not clear these figures represent the full extent of the Ramzans' remuneration. There were inter-company transactions valued at more than (pounds) 1.4m last year between Tarak Clothing and other companies owned by the duo.
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