Matalan

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Matalan plc

Type	Public limited company
Founded	Preston (?)
Headquarters	Skelmersdale
Key people	John Hargreaves, Chairman
Industry	Cloths store [1]
Products	Clothing, housewares
Revenue	£1,049 million GBP (2004)
Website	www.matalan.co.uk

1 Matalan
2 Controversy
3 Notes
4 External links

[edit] Matalan

Matalan is a discount clothing and homeware store in the United Kingdom. It was founded by John Hargreaves in 1985. It currently has 200 stores across the UK. The 200th store opened on 22nd September 2006 in Croydon. Shares in the company plummeted from 241p to 175p, following the pattern of many retail companies during the 'retail slowdown'. The company's shares are on the rise, and in part due to rumours that Asda or Tesco might make a takeover bid, though neither company has publicly acknowledged any such plan. In 2002, the company took over the long established Wolsey Company, which has been trading since 1755. In July 2006, sales in the company rose for the first time in months due to highly successful product lines in the World Cup season. However, this success was shrouded by intense boardroom activity over John Hargreaves' plan to buy back all of Matalan's shares.

The current Chief Executive at Matalan is John King. He has announced his intention to leave at the end of 2006, to enable him to spend more time with his family in America.

[edit] Controversy

In November 2005, Matalan imposed a unilateral two percent cut on payments to its suppliers. It is one of a series of retailers to do so. Suppliers have threatened legal action.^[1] Matalan has also been criticised for exploiting workers in the pursuit of cheap prices.^[2]