Today in Retail: Austin Reed to make high street comeback

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This year has brought plenty of downbeat retail headlines, so it’s great to be able to highlight some good news – plans to revive the Austin Reed brand.

Edinburgh Woollen Mill owner Philip Day, who bought Austin Reed out of administration earlier this year, has unveiled plans for a relaunch.

He wants to open 50 branches by early 2018.

Day, who tends to keep an under-the-radar personal profile, has a good track record of breathing new life into retail brands that looked as if they had gone the way of all flesh.

Over the next 18 months he expects to create 2,000 new jobs as his group, including fascias such as Peacocks and Ponden Home, expands.

Day has proved himself adept at restoring the appeal of the high street names he’s snapped up by refocusing on their traditional core customers – often people who are overlooked by retailers that tend to chase the latest trend.

There’s surely a lesson there as some other established names seek to rekindle their relationships with shoppers.

The day brought further upbeat excitement as etailer Missguided unveiled a bricks-and-mortar store in Westfield Stratford City.

Also, the Pensions Regulator said she was hopeful of striking a deal with former BHS owner Sir Philip Green, we had the Autumn Statement from Chancellor Philip Hammond, and agency staff at an Arcadia warehouse threatened to strike on Cyber Monday.