Business leaves tweeds behind with new focus on quality food and fashion, writes Colm Keena

An enthusiasm for what he does comes across when Simon Pratt talks, and given what he does for a living that is probably to be expected. Simon is a director of Avoca Handweavers and, as most know, Avoca is involved in the manufacture and sale of quality clothing and food.

If that wasn't enough, Avoca has managed to combine these activities with some of the most attractive locations in the Republic. Avoca and Kilmacanogue in Co Wicklow, Letterfrack in Co Galway, Moll's Gap on the Ring of Kerry, and Bunratty, Co Clare, all have Avoca outlets.

The shop on Suffolk Street, Dublin, doesn't have a close up view of the sea or the mountains, though it does, reportedly, have a secret garden.

Each morning chefs and bakers in Avoca's cafes get to work producing that day's food from scratch. Staff produce jams and dressings for sale from the premises on a daily basis.

"Some would say, that's ludicrous, do it centrally, in a factory, and then distribute it to the shops. But if you followed that advice then, little by little, you'd strip away everything that makes Avoca work," Pratt says.

The fact that Avoca is a family business gives Simon and his mother, father, sister and brother the opportunity to play a longer game and not reduce the running of a business to a continual focus on cost reductions and profit increases. "We are genuinely interested in what we do, and it is great fun."

He gives as an example the latest plan for the outlet at Letterfrack, Co Galway, which is beside the sea. A seafood cafe is to be installed, and the public will have access to the fish smokery that is being set up, so they can see the process in action.

"We are doing it to be more successful, of course, but also because we want to make the shop more attractive. It is not just to buck up the figures."

He is a retailing enthusiast and mentions favourite retailers in the UK and the US, though he is not a fan of the UK multiples that are now coming to Ireland.

"I think when the novelty wears off you find that there is something of the emperor's new clothes about them. They all do something well but what you have are rails of fairly disposable fashion made in the Far East."

He believes Avoca's products come somewhere in between these shops and the very high-end designer labels that can only be afforded by the well to do.

He sees the Avoca outlets as giving customers a more pleasurable overall experience, given their "quirkiness", and the mix the shops have of own brand, other Irish craftwork, quality food produced on the premises, and cafe facilities.

The results for Avoca Handweavers Ltd for the year to the end of January 2005 show a profit after tax of €139,542 and a turnover of €7.18 million. Both figures are an improvement on the previous year.

The company designs, manufactures and wholesales women's fashion, as well as being involved in weaving, fashion accessories and home furnishings.

The accounts for Avoca Handweavers Shops Ltd, which operates the group's retail outlets and cafes, show a profit of €626,216, an increase of almost 50 per cent on the previous year.

Turnover in the shops was approximately €25 million, net of VAT, of which about €10 million was from food. (The two Avoca Cafe cookbooks are huge bestsellers by Irish standards, having sold more than 200,000 copies to date.) The growth in turnover in the clothing design and manufacture business reflects the increasing sales of Avoca's two fashion labels, Avoca Anthology and Renaissance, which are selling into Britain.

This new line of product has been going for two years now and is selling in 300 UK outlets. Simon's sister, Amanda Pratt, and two other designers are behind the two labels. Fabrics are sourced in Italy, France and Spain, and the clothing is made in Latvia and Italy.Simon's mother, Hilary, is in charge of the mill in Avoca, where soft furnishings, throw rugs and scarves are still produced. The mill first began operating in 1723.

In 1974 Simon's father, Donald, and Hilary bought it and set up the business that is prospering today. Donald abandoned his work as a solicitor and Hilary her work as a teacher.

Simon's brother, Ivan, is responsible for the manufacture and sale of clothing, while his father is in charge of the plant nursery in Kilmacanogue.

"He is very much still the entrepreneur, coming up with ten ideas every day, nine of which have to be put firmly in the bin."

Simon says that in more recent years, Avoca shops are changing into lifestyle shops rather than outlets for tweeds. Noting how trends were changing, the family decided to move into new clothing areas rather than just remaining focused on tweeds.

"We felt that the writing was on the wall, that business would otherwise decline."

Despite dire warnings from some, it was decided to go with the new ventures, and the move has worked out very well. This year's clothing results will be about 25 per cent up on those covered by the latest accounts, says Simon.

"It's taken a few years but it's been a great success."

The next move in the development of the business will be the construction of a new premises at Rathcoole, on the Naas Road.

Work starts next week on the construction of an almost 40,000sq ft, three-storey building that will have a retail outlet on the ground floor, two cafes on the first floor, and offices for rent on the top floor.

It will be a €15 million investment that is scheduled to open in October 2006. "We had been looking to do another decent-sized shop outside Dublin and it took some years to find the right location," says Pratt.

The family wanted a shop in a premises they would own and the Rathcoole site seemed to fit the bill. The shop and cafes will be open seven days a week and the operation will employ about 100 people.

Although all five members of the board bear the same title, director, father and mother are "effectively joint chairs".

"We all get on extremely well and I think it is a great privilege to be able to work with your parents.

"Of course, the business has always gone well and if it wasn't doing so well that might create strains. But thank goodness we've never had that situation."

Factfile

Name: Simon Pratt

Age: 41

Title: Director in family-owned Avoca group

Background: Educated at Sandford Park, Ranelagh, followed by business studies and politics at Trinity College Dublin

Family: Married to Fiona with one son, Levi

Interests: Gardening, bad soccer and bad golf

Why he is in the news: Avoca has just reported a 50 per cent increase in profits from its retail outlets and is planning further growth