Linen firm puts itself on ‘firmer footing’ at home and abroad

The £18m turnover firm, which has more than 40 stores and employs more than 300 members of staff, has just seen its revamped Leeds store reopen. Meanwhile, a new outlet will open in the Portuguese resort of Albufeira, adding to the eight stores already based in both Portugal and Spain.

The Yorkshire Linen Company, which has its headquarters in Harrogate, was started in 1993 by Ross and Kirsteen Leventhal. In addition to shops predominantly located in the north of England, it also owns the Darley Mill centre, on the outskirts of Harrogate near Menwith Hill, which it bought in 2009. Since then, more than £250,000 has been spent upgrading the 17th century mill building and restoring the water wheel.

Mr Leventhal said: “This continued investment in our stores is our commitment to supporting the UK’s high street. Shops up and down the country are having a very tough time. We have not been immune to the extremely challenging trading conditions, and we have had to realign our product offer and merchandising methods to compete.

“However, by listening to our customers, we know exactly what they want in terms of stock on the shelves, plus the environment they prefer to shop in. We are now on a much firmer footing and in a much stronger position to cope with the current economic climate.”

Mr Leventhal said that more refurbishments are in the pipeline, and the possibility of opening new stores is on the cards.