This time 12-months ago Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct group swooped to pluck the once esteemed, albeit floundering, department store chain House of Fraser from administration and possible oblivion. At the time, Ashley proudly announced plans to turn the chain into the ‘Harrods of the high street’, but that dream has since proved to be much harder to bring to realisation than perhaps he knew. 

A year on from the acquisition, Retail Week looks at what Ashley and co. have changed at House of Fraser, and what is still left to be done. It analyses changes in leadership, the department store chain’s offer and market share, as well as what needs to be done with its tired store estate and how the group has been trading and how its suite of concessions are doing.