Fashion retailer Monsoon is set to open 22 new stores in the current financial year, bouncing back from economic woes that saw it brought out of administration in 2020.
A subsidiary of Adena Brands, which also owns Accessorize, Monsoon currently operates 154 stores across the UK, having opened 19 of these this year.
Chief executive Nick Stowe suggested new business rates could make opening new shops “more attractive”.
Announced as part of a relief package worth £13.6bn during the autumn statement, businesses rates bills will rise by less than 1% from April 2023, instead of a previously anticipated hike of 20%.
“We could probably get up to 200 stores in the UK if we wanted to,” he added.
Monsoon was brought out of administration in 2020 by founder Peter Simon after having struggled during the first Covid-19 lockdown.
It subsequently closed shops and cut jobs in a bid to see profits return, which has proved successful as Adena reported a 43% rise in year-on-year sales in August at £258mln.
Simon said: “Our team has worked incredibly hard since then, first to save the business, then to rebuild its profitability, and now to write a new chapter for our iconic brands.”
He added that despite facing the “challenges of recession,” Monsoon was “well prepared after all the work we’ve done”.