Otto UK chief executive Koert Tulleners said the UK could benefit from some of its parent group’s brands, which include homewares retailer Crate & Barrel, fashion mail order group Schwab and fashion and homewares outfit Baur.
“We could create either complete new companies or bring in [Otto] concepts from other countries,” said Tulleners. “We are not rushing into anything but will be analysing a number of concepts.”
He added that the company is also considering investing in UK start-up ventures similar to its investment in online retailer Yourschooluniform.com. He said the Otto Group is well funded to be able to offer investment.
Tulleners confirmed Otto’s commitment to the UK and admitted mistakes had been made in the past in regards to e-commerce. “E-commerce is growing fast in the UK and we have not been capitalising on that. We are the largest home shopping group in the world and we cannot afford not to be in the UK.”
The home shopping group revealed earlier this month that it had entered into a 90-day consultation period with its entire 3,800 UK workforce and a significant amount of redundancies are expected to cut costs in an attempt to make the business more efficient (Retail Week, January 16).
Tulleners said he also wanted to move Freemans Grattan’s focus away from its traditional agency business to more direct selling. At present 80 per cent of its sales come from its agency business. “We are looking to change so direct is 50 per cent of our business in the next two to three years.”
He said he would do this not by shrinking the agency business but by growing the direct side.
Tulleners added that Otto UK’s young fashion brand Oli, launched in 2007, has not lived up to expectations. “We had too many SKUs and we are re-positioning it largely as a fashion player,” he said. He explained that it would target a younger market with a fashion focus and scrap the homewares offer.
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