Harvey Nichols has warned of the risk of collapse without new investment
The British luxury department store chain Harvey Nichols has stated that it will not be able to survive another year without new investment. The company, headquartered in London’s Knightsbridge, is up for sale, and Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group is said to be one of the leading contenders to acquire it, according to The Guardian.
The owner of Harvey Nichols, Hong Kong businessman Dixon Poon, put the retailer up for sale in June. Frasers Group is seeking to acquire the chain for approximately 40 million pounds. Harvey Nichols’ financial statements indicate that the company has received “several offers” for the purchase and hopes to finalize the deal within the next year.
For the year ended March 29, 2025, Harvey Nichols reported a loss after taxes of 105 million pounds following the write-off of intra-group loans. According to the published financial statements, the company has not turned a profit since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, when affluent foreign tourists were unable to visit the country.
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Harvey Nichols’ directors stated that the company does not meet the going-concern principle: it may run out of funds within the next year, and there are no agreements in place for new financing. The retailer is also facing difficulties due to competition from other shopping destinations and the growth of online retail.
Previously, the retailer Next had expressed interest in acquiring Harvey Nichols; however, according to the latest reports, it has backed out of the deal. Mike Ashley, founder of Sports Direct and controlling shareholder of Frasers Group, described Harvey Nichols’ situation as a “downward spiral” and said that turning the business around would be a “huge challenge.”
Ashley stated that, if the acquisition goes through, he would retain the Harvey Nichols stores in Knightsbridge and Edinburgh, while rebranding the other locations as House of Fraser or Flannels, both of which are part of the Frasers Group. Harvey Nichols has stores in Birmingham, Bristol, Dublin, Edinburgh, and Manchester, and outside the UK—in Riyadh, Dubai, Kuwait, and two stores in Hong Kong.
