Selfridges owner scoops £39m windfall

Updated:
18:08 EST, 12 November 2017

The owner of department chain Selfridges has pocketed a £39 million windfall after a sales surge as foreign shoppers seized on the weaker pound.

Canadian tycoon Galen Weston, 77, reaped this year’s £38.5 million dividend thanks to a 16 per cent jump in sales to £1.6 billion during the year to January.
Galen Weston (left) received his dividend following a 16% boost in sales

The businessman snapped up the 109-year-old business for a reported £598 million in 2003.

This boom has partly been driven by the drop in the pound since the Brexit vote, which has driven a surge in visitors from China, the Middle East and America seeking luxury goods.

A £300 million effort to transform the company’s flagship store in Oxford Street and revamp its online operation has also paid off.

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