It's been a challenging half year for House of Fraser, who have recorded losses of £8.6 million in their half-year report - a massive drop from last year's £900,000 profit.

The beleaguered chain, which includes Cavendish House in Cheltenham, is undergoing a major transformation scheme which they claim is partly responsible for the dip in profits.

But CEO Alex Williamson attempted to boost morale when he said: "House of Fraser has much to be optimistic about. I am excited about what lies ahead for the business.

"With the support of Sanpower, we are building the right foundations that position us well to deliver on our ambitions for sustainable profit growth."

For the 26-week period ending July 29, the company's total gross transaction value was £545.8 million, while like-for-like sales declined by 5.2 per cent compared with the same half-period last year.

Online sales were down 9.8 per cent and gross profit went down from £207.2 million to £196.9 million, impacted by the web disruption and the womanswear stock clearance. The group has also had to pay £25 million for its new website.

But Alex Williamson added: "House of Fraser has many wonderful qualities and I have high expectations for the business.

"My observations after a few weeks are that since Sanpower acquired the business in 2014 the primary focus has been on stabilising an enterprise that had been starved of investment for many years.

"Whether it be refinancing the business, the investment of over £100M in capital expenditure since the acquisition or a root and branch upgrade of the executive team, much has already been done to prepare us for significant transformation.

"And House of Fraser has much to be optimistic about. Our new House Brand Womenswear collections for Autumn/Winter have been launched and our customers' response to date has been very encouraging.

"Our new web platform greatly improves our customers' experience and online margins whilst our investment in the distribution centre will deliver cost savings through improved operational efficiencies.

"And this is just the start of our journey with several other projects designed to provide additional sales and costs savings as part of the overall Transformation Programme due to commence shortly."

However, these results do not bode well for Cavendish House when the new John Lewis store opens in the Beechwood Shopping Centre, Cheltenham next year, as this will undoubtedly create strong competition for the House of Fraser store and impact upon its future in the town.

What do you think? Contact mark@mooseprandmarketing.co.uk 

Picture caption: Cavendish House in Cheltenham