Highland Perthshire luxury clothing and foods retailer House of Bruar is celebrating a strong year of trading, with pre-tax profits up almost 22%.
The so-called Harrods of the North predicts it will perform even better once the A9 is dualled although the £3 billion upgrade project, due to be completed in 2025, will not be trouble-free.
“A matter of both opportunity and concern is the plan to dual the A9 between Perth and Inverness,” said director Patrick Birkbeck, whose father Mark founded the 11-acre site near Blair Atholl in 1995.
“The business has made representations to the Scottish Parliament, the local authorities and to the local council which have to date all been received positively.
“In our opinion the numbers of visitors to the area will increase enormously once the road is finished, but the process and construction phase will cause problems.”
The junction serving House of Bruar was improved when the centre opened, but that section of the A9 will be dualled in the biggest upgrade of the strategic route since the 1970s when bypasses were built around 18 towns and villages.
House of Bruar’s turnover rose almost 10% to £22.7 million for the year to January 31, 2014, and pre-tax profit leapt 21.8% to £4.764m.
Mr Birkbeck said the core operation continues to be retail clothing, with mail order revenue growing.
Selling some of Britain’s finest produce, clothing ranging from Scottish tweed to cashmere jumpers and rural art work, he said the balance sheet and profitability of the business continue to improve.
“The general state of the economy is a concern for luxury retailing as it will lead to a contraction in the market,” he warned.
“However, we believe we are well placed to withstand any market downturn, as can be seen by our increase in turnover and maintained gross margins over the last three financial years,” he said.
Sales rose 11% to £9.96m, and a key indicator of over-the-counter transactions was the daily monitor of visitors to the store represented by a 20% rise in vehicles using the car park.
Apart from the A9’s dualling, Mr Birkbeck said the business needs to expand direct shopping elements, and moving the mail order operations from the main site to Ballinluig will aid the progression to a multi-season mail order business.
The growth in internet sales has been significant over the last two years and shows a 75% rise last year, with the mail order catalogue the key catalyst.