Sir: Mr Whitley's article included a number of factual errors.
BhS has never had a strong freehold property portfolio and it is simply untrue to say that Sir Terence sold freeholds and saddled BhS with expensive leaseholds. Nor have we ignored BhS's distribution experience. Storehouse's dis- tribution problems were in other parts of the group and to a considerable extent it is with BhS expertise that these are now being put right, under the able direction of Pat Diamond, previously deputy chief ex- ecutive of BhS and now a Storehouse director.
Contrary to Mr Whitley's assertion, I believe that with names such as BhS, Habitat, Mothercare, Richards and Jacadi, Storehouse has a very powerful portfolio of retail brands which enjoy instant recogni- tion and which we can exploit profitably to the benefit of our customers — and our shareholders. I would strongly challenge the assertion that customers would not miss these great names.
Michael Julien
Group Chief Executive, Storehouse, 196 Tottenham Court Road, London W1
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