Wedding bells are ringing out once again for customers of suit hire group Moss Bros, after a 6.4% fall in hirings last year.
“Whether it was a customers avoiding an ‘unlucky 13’ date to get married or a bit of squeeze on their pockets we can’t really tell,” admitted chief executive Brian Brick.
“The wedding industry seems to have a couple of good years and then a bad one. What I do know is that it is showing signs of a good recovery this year.”
Overall Moss Bros same-store sales rose by 4% to £122 million last year, helping to push pre-tax profits up from £3 million to £4.4 million. The dividend has been massively hiked from 0.9p to 5p a share.
Brick also announced a rebranding of its suit shops, bringing in Moss London, Moss 1851 and Moss Esquire for its fashion, contemporary and classic ranges. He said that as well as hire they are the UK’s third-largest sellers of suits.
