Moss Bros is to open a store in Dubai this month, its first outlet outside the British Isles and Ireland.
The suit specialist, which has been testing the Middle Eastern market with a concession in House of Fraser in Abu Dhabi, plans a standalone store in Ibn Battutu shopping centre.
Brian Brick, chief executive, said Moss Bros planned to open more stores in the Middle East and had hired a chief operating officer to examine the brand’s potential overseas.
“We see international expansion as an opportunity for the business. We are exploring the Middle East and this will be a trial run, if it goes well we will look into opening further stores,” he said.
Outside the UK, Moss Bros has stores in Ireland and opened an outlet in Jersey last year. It also trades online in the US and Australia.
The planned expansion comes asthe group’s profits, before exceptional items, rose 23% to £5.9m in the year to 30 January. “We feel the business is in good shape,” Brick said.
Underlying sales rose 8.2% to £119m over the year, helped by a 36% rise online. Hire sales increased by 11.7% amid strong demand for wedding suits and gear for school proms.
Brick said demand for prom outfits, for hire and purchase, was rising by double-digit percentages, as more UK schools adopt the US tradition.
He said sales of wedding outfits was also strong and there was anecdotal evidence that more people were getting married.
Moss Bros was enjoying particularly strong growth in the hire of lounge suits, which it introduced as a more contemporary alternative to traditional morning suits.
