ONE BUSINESS that you might imagine would benefit from our current obsession with getting value for money is the Kildare Village outlet centre which houses a number of shops selling discounted fashion brands.

The centre could certainly do with a break judging by accounts filed recently by its operating entity Value Retail Dublin Ltd.

Losses at the Kildare Village operator widened in 2007 to €5 million from €3.5 million the previous year. This was due almost entirely to a sharp rise in interest payments, presumably on its €37.5 million loan with Bank of Scotland (Ireland).

The company, which opened for business on July 12th, 2006, and is owned by Amsterdam-based retail outlet specialist VR European Holdings, has accumulated losses of €11.7 million.

Its freehold property was valued at €50 million at the end of 2007, a figure that is certain to have gone south.

The operators also signed a deal in February 2007 with a third party to acquire land adjacent to their centre subject to planning permission being received. The annual "option fee" is €140,000 and it has until November 2011 to exercise this.

At least Kildare Village's sales seem to be heading in the right direction - rising to €3.2 million last year from €1.2 million in 2006. The company has 116,943 sq ft of lettable retail space, of which 69 per cent was occupied in 2007, according to the accounts.

"The company is in discussions with further brands wishing to trade from the village, and commercialisation and trading progress is in line with expectations for this stage of its development," says the directors' report.

According to the Kildare Village website, a number of retailers will "open soon", including luggage provider Samsonite and The North Face outdoor sportswear group.

All it needs now are more consumers prepared to open their wallets.