The encyclopedia · Finance & Accounting · Financial decision · 2021–2022
Gieves & Hawkes, 250 years of Savile Row, ended up with Sports Direct's owner
Its owner collapsed with £23.7M of debt in Dec 2021; Frasers rescued the 250-year-old tailor a year later — then tried to sell its flagship for £50M.
Gieves & Hawkes · Trinity · Frasers Group · 2021-12
What happened
Hawkes was founded in 1771, Gieves in 1785; the houses held royal warrants from 1809 and dressed Admiral Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Winston Churchill before George VI and King Charles III. They merged in 1974 under the name Gieves & Hawkes at No. 1 Savile Row — the address Hawkes had held since 1912 — and ran four more UK stores besides.
The collapse came through the owner, not the shop. Hong Kong-based holding company Trinity went into administration in December 2021 with debts of £23.7M, after the pandemic cut sales from £11.2M in 2019 to £3.9M in 2020 — a £4.5M loss. The holding company's last accounts warned it could not continue as a going concern without new backers, and in July 2022 the brand went on the market.
On November 24, 2022, Frasers Group — owner of Sports Direct — bought Gieves & Hawkes and its five stores; chief executive Michael Murray promised 'a long-term future for an iconic 250-year-old brand.' By May 2026 the same group was reportedly shopping the 7,000 sq ft flagship for £50M, with insiders saying investments in the brand 'have not delivered the results required.'
Why it happened
- A bespoke tailor's revenue sits on fittings and occasions; the pandemic removed both, and sales fell two-thirds in a year.
- The owner was a holding company carrying £23.7M of debt with no backer when the crisis hit — the going-concern warning was already written into the accounts.
- The rescuer was a sports-discount group whose premium investments kept missing targets; heritage is an operating model, not an asset you can park.
The lesson
Heritage survives owners but not debt: a 250-year-old name under a leveraged holding company is one revenue shock from administration, and the rescuer may only be parking it.
Aftermath
Frasers kept the brand, but its premium lifestyle division's revenue fell 3.7% in the half year to October 2025, and by May 2026 the Grade II-listed flagship was reportedly for sale at £50M while British tailoring kept losing ground to relaxed office dress.
Sources
- Mike Ashley's Frasers Group buys London tailor Gieves & Hawkes — The Guardian (Nov 24, 2022)
- Frasers Group to offload Gieves & Hawkes flagship — Drapers (May 12, 2026)
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