George at Asda managing director Andrew Moore has set out three key planks for growth as the brand celebrates its 21st birthday this week.

Moore said George will seek to increase profitability through international expansion, multichannel and procurement, while continuing to focus on “getting the basics right” for the customer, and on product and value.

He said: “We see these three areas as having huge growth potential for George over the next few years.”

George will open its first international franchise standalone stores in the Middle East in the first half of 2012. A team has been established in its Lutterworth office to explore other international possibilities.

Moore said the Middle East is a good location because of its demographic - 70% of the population is under the age of 35 and 35% is under 14. “We think there is an opportunity for a genuine value brand in the Middle East,” he said.

George will also relaunch its website later this year, with updated functionality and imagery. Moore said: “Online has big growth potential for us and there is so much more we can do online.”

On procurement, George continues to work with Asda parent Walmart on collaborative buying to mitigate the costs of rising raw materials.

George unveiled a capsule collection on Thursday to celebrate its 21st birthday. The collection of style classics has a colour palette of black, white and poppy red.

Consumers can mix and match classic styles to wear in 21 different ways for all occasions. Prices start from £7.

Separately, Asda was slammed by ActionAid this week over claims that some staff at its factories in Bangladesh producing for George have suffered abuse or been sworn at.

An Asda spokeswoman said: “In a recent meeting with ActionAid, they told us that no matter what success we had in Bangladesh they would continue to campaign against us as a leading value retailer, rather than work collaboratively.”

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