Country Casuals drag on Austin Reed

THE new broom at troubled Austin Reed today axed the retail director of its Country Casuals womenswear chain after disastrous sales.

And chief executive Nick Hollingworth warned that a shake-up of Country Casuals, including a clearance sale of thousands of garments, would result in write-offs and costs of £5.5m this year.

Sales of menswear and womenswear under the core Austin Reed brand were showing strong signs of improvement, however. A like-for-like sales decline of around 10% this time last year has been turned into 3% growth in the past 23 weeks.

But Country Casuals' like-for-like sales remained down 10% in the same period, reflecting the fact that women in their 50s did not like the clothes on offer.

'A 50-year-old woman does not want to look, act and shop like a 50-year-old woman. She wants to be like a 35-year-old. We have to reflect that,' said Hollingworth.

But he was upbeat about the Austin Reed range, saying: 'The brand had a tough time last year, especially in formalwear. But we have seen a revival of suits and brought in changes to the ranges that have been appealing to customers.'

David Lowbridge, the retail director who stepped in as acting chief executive after Roger Jennings was fired in January, is likely to get a pay-off of about £108,000 - equivalent to one year's pay.

Hollingworth said Lowbridge's job, overseeing both the Country Casuals and Austin Reed brands, had disappeared as the brands would be managed separately from now on. The shares fell 7p to 126 1/2p.