Moss Bros gets on a roll thanks to online

The group, which trades from 136 stores across the UK, launched its new retail website in January and said year-on-year online sales soared 138 per cent in the 18 weeks from the end of January to the start of June.

That helped nudge like-for-like sales up 0.3 per cent, as a 2 per cent rise in retail sales offset a 6.2 per cent slump in suit hire sales.

While Moss has so far concentrated on selling suits and shirts online, it plans to launch a hire website in September to offer a “fully-integrated omni-channel customer experience”.

Online sales now comprise 3.3 per cent of its total sales, up from 1.4 per cent a year earlier.

Underlying profits strengthened 0.6 per cent on a year earlier, compared with a 2.4 per cent fall in the first seven weeks of the period.

Chief executive Brian Brick said hire sales will continue to be “volatile” for the rest of the year as it comes up against unusual trading patterns caused by the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and Olympics last year.

But he said: “Although we remain cautious about the general economic environment we believe our strategy of refitting stores, investing in e-commerce infrastructure and focusing on our target market and customer offer will strengthen the Moss Bros brand.”

Moss now trades from 24 new format stores after refitting 18 and adding six new outlets.