Pavers England aims to open 500 outlets; seeks franchisees

English premium footwear brand Pavers England has set a target of 100 per cent annual growth rate for the next three years. The company will invest $15 million during the next three years in India to widen its retail network to 500 points of sale (PoS). The company is seeking potential franchisee partners to expand its footprint. At present, Pavers England footwear is retailed through 10 exclusive franchise outlets and 60 multibrand outlets (MBO), including Reliance Footprint, Shoppers Stop and Central.

The footwear company, which started its operation in India in 2008, also wishes to increase its global procurement from India by more than 50 per cent. “Our target is to grow annually by 100 per cent for the next three years and touch an annual turnover of Rs 240 crore. Last financial year we grew by 115 per cent. The growth can be achieved by increasing the points of sale from 70 to 500 by 2015,” said Utsav Seth, CEO and MD of Pavers England.

Either in the form of exclusive stores or MBOs, the PoS will touch 500 by 2015, he said. “We’ll invest $15 million over the next three years, 60 per cent of which will be spent on stocks and the rest on increasing warehousing facilities and training retail staff. Around $3 million will go into the R&D centre we’d set up while entering the market,” he said.

The R&D centre is one among the six such centres the $200 million parent company owns worldwide. The Indian subsidiary not only designs footwear for the parent company, but also procures around one million pair from the country for global consumption.

"This could go up to 1.5 million or 1.7 million pairs, but India has to become cost competitive compared to countries like Vietnam. Lately, the procurement from Agra has been going up compared to that from Tamil Nadu," said Seth.