Flannels to open six more stores in first half of 2019

Flannels, the Sports Direct-owned luxury chain, has revealed it is opening six more stores in the first half of 2019 with more to come later in the year.

On its Linked-in page, where the retailer is advertising for more staff, the business said it would be opening on London's Oxford Street and in Ipswich, Sutton, Chester, York and Newcastle.

The business, which stocks brands from Gucci to Saint Laurent and Moncler, is already present in more than 35 locations nation-wide including Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Glasgow and Cardiff. It was founded in Knutsford in Cheshire in 1976 and was acquired by Mike Ashley's Sports Direct in 2012.

When Ashley acquired House of Fraser last August, there was speculation that he might open branches of Flannels within House of Fraser stores as part of his bid to create the "Harrods of the High Street".