House of Fraser owner could close more big shops as department store industry is ‘broken’

Retail group says pretax profits almost doubled as Sports Direct improved margins

The owner of House of Fraser has said it could close more stores, after shutting eight in the past year and declaring the department store globally is broken".

Michael Murray, the chief executive of Mike Ashley's retail empire Frasers which also owns Sports Direct, the designer street fashion chain Flannels and a plethora of brands from Jack Wills to Evans Cycles, said its department store portfolio was continually under review" and some outlets were still too big and we have to find solutions for the excess space".