Moss Bros smartens up with 10.5% rise in sales

Moss Bros brought some pre-Christmas cheer to the UK’s troubled high street with a 10.5 per cent spike in sales, prompting the City to talk of the return of dividend payments.

Sales at the men’s suit specialist benefited from higher than average selling prices from increased sales of upmarket suits from the likes of Ted Baker and French Connection. But Moss Bros said demand was also strong for its own-brand Blazer jackets and trousers, adding it had not passed on to customers the full increase in wool prices.

Brian Brick, the chief executive of Moss Bros, said: “Our ranges are better. We have kept our price-competitiveness and have absorbed some of the price increases.”