'Harrods of the Highlands' House of Bruar outlines expansion plans after sales rebound

House of Bruar, the Perthshire clothing, food and tourism emporium, is pushing ahead with expansion plans after announcing a rise in sales.

The retailer is constructing some 20,000 square feet of additional storage space at its distribution centre located near Ballinluig in central Perthshire. Restrictions issued with the initial planning permission have been lifted to allow the continual and further development occurring before the A9 trunk road is dualled on this stretch, bosses added.

Confirmation of the expansion came as the House of Bruar holding company announced an increase in turnover of 23 per cent to £36 million generating underlying profits of £9m. The results are for the year ending in 2022 and are said to demonstrate the “revival of the business” in the wake of the pandemic.

The retail premises near Blair Atholl - often labelled the “Harrods of the Highlands” - were closed from the end of March until the end of June 2020, with the exception of the popular food hall, which continued to service local demand throughout the whole period.

Managing director Patrick Birkbeck said: “The results in 2021/22 were positive and have continued to grow through the 2022/23 financial year. We are delighted to be in a position to have resources that can be reinvested in the company that will allow both the retail and direct shopping channels to grow. The last three years have been extremely torrid with not only Covid, but also Brexit and the continual and dramatic increases in overheads.”

In 2022, visitors to the retail site reached pre-pandemic levels of some two million.