Office Holdings

Office Holdings is a company that operates the "Office" chain of shoe shops in the UK and Ireland.

History

The company's first store opened in 1981 under the name 'Office London' with a concession in Hyper Hyper on Kensington High Street. The name came from the fact that the shop was constructed using second-hand office furniture. The first stand-alone Office store opened on Kings Road in 1984; as of 2011, the company has 79 stand alone stores in the UK and 47 concessions.

In 1996, Office launched its Offspring brand, a fashion sports footwear concept, which currently has 5 stores in the UK. Poste, an upmarket men's boutique, was launched in 2000; it is styled after a typical gentleman's club. This was followed by Poste Mistress in 2001, a ladies' footwear boutique selling labels such as Vivien Westwood and Dries van Noten.

The company is privately held, and was purchased by Tom Hunter of the West Coast Capital Group, whose portfolio includes High Street shops Qube and USC and low-cost hotel chain Travelodge. West Coast subsequently sold to Silverfleet Capital in 2010.

References

• 'Companies UK: Tom Hunter set to roll out Qube chain' by Sophy Buckly, Financial Times, Nov 12 2004 [1]
• 'Companies:UK: Tom Hunter refuses to throw in the towel' by Peter Smith, Financial Times, Nov 24 2004
• Scotsman article on sale to Tom Hunter [2] (dated 27 April 2003, accessed 2 November 2006)
• More party animal than nine-to-five; Office. - store profile. The Times, 14 June 2006, p13. [3]

External links

• Company's website
• West Coast Capital Group