Studio Retail is to split off from its financial services division, with the financial arm set to be rebranded as Frasers Group Financial Services Limited, and lined up to provide financial services across the wider Frasers Group as well as for Studio Retail.
The existing Fraser Group Financial Services Limited, which was incorporated in February 2021 with Frasers Group as majority shareholder but has remained dormant since, has changed its name to Frasers Group Credit Broking Limited as of documents filed yesterday (May 30) at Companies House.
The new FGFSL team will remain at Studio’s Clayton-le-Moors base, just outside Accrington.
Online retail giant Studio Retail was rescued out of administration by Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, the owner of brands such as Sports Direct and House of Fraser, in February 2022. The £26.8m deal saw Frasers acquire a business that owed over £80m to its creditors when it collapsed, while accounts filed since have revealed that the company lost over £75m in the year before the rescue.
Studio Retail said that the expansion plans for the newly minted FGFSL will create in excess of 100 new jobs. It added: “Although now distinctly separate businesses, the relationship between SRTL and FGFSL will continue and they remain inter-related to deliver the best outcomes for customers, and economies of scale.”
David Twigg, managing director of Frasers Group Financial Services, said: “This is more good news, and shows real investment from the Frasers Group in the long term future of our financial services business. The separation of the two businesses is a new strategic direction for us, and allows both businesses to be developed in different ways.
“We have vacancies available now, and a big expansion plan, so it’s an exciting time for us to put plans in place and look to the future.”
