All aboard: Hargreaves to relaunch Wolsey brand

The chairman of Matalan, John Hargreaves, is reviving menswear brand Wolsey and is planning to open a shop in London's Covent Garden later this year.

The brand, which was founded in Leicester 250 years ago and has a royal warrant to supply clothes to the Queen, was bought by Matalan in 2002, but Mr Hargreaves has now taken Wolsey out of the discount chain.

"Wolsey is a real and rich heritage which I hope to build on," said Mr Hargreaves, who has hired top retailer Fergus Patterson to run the brand. A new showroom in London's Old Burlington Street will be launched this week and property agent CWM is to look for new shops. The Matalan founder is also looking for department store concessions and shops overseas.

As well as being worn by the royals, Wolsey supplied both the competing expeditions to the Antarctic in 1910 – Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated attempt and the successful mission by his Norwegian rival, Roald Amundsen.