Irish expansion held back by Brexit says Oliver Bonas chief

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
July 18, 2023

Olly Tress, the founder of fashion, lifestyle and homewares retailer Oliver Bonas, said he’s finding it difficult to grow his brand in Ireland, citing “teething problems” related to Brexit.

He also said he’d like to enter menswear if not focusing on his label and also that the brand needs to be more diverse.

While the brand’s expansion plans in Ireland are ready, Brexit has made it “hard and expensive to run stores there”, he told The Times.

The label has one store in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland and is in Northern Ireland with one store in Belfast, and as well as being eager to grow there, Tress said he’s looking to expand his presence in mainland Britain too.

“People seem to want to shop on the high street again,” Tress said. “We’ve spent an eye-watering amount of money on refitting our shops — figures that I couldn’t have conceived years ago — but it means they’re going to look good in 10 years’ time. They’re nice places to go and people want to come in, even though we’re not selling things that people actually need.” 

He said one goal now is for the Oliver Bonas brand to have “more credibility and authority” in the categories it sells and to shake off its middle-class image. 

“As a white middle-class man in my fifties I’m in an awkward position of trying to create something that doesn’t necessarily represent where I’ve come from, but I would like the business to be much more varied and diverse,” he said.

He added: “Menswear is something I’d do if I was no longer at Oliver Bonas. Men’s fashion is something I’m passionate about.”

The business, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary in September, has grown to revenues of £92.8 million in the latest financial year for which accounts were filed and pre-tax profits of £7.5 million.