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This interview is a small excerpt from a comprehensive interview published in The Wall Street Transcript as part of the Technology Sector, available at (001-212-952-7433) or http://www.twst.com/sectors/techno.html

TWST: Can give us a brief overview of Moss Bros including the company’s history and products?

Mr. Wright: Moss Bros as a business is a little over 150 years old and was begun by the Moss family here in the United Kingdom. Their initial trading stance was hiring suits to out of work actors who couldn’t afford their own clothing. And out of the hire business grew a retail formal wear business that over the next 125 years grew organically by opening new stores. In trying to catch up, Moss in late 1998 decided to enter into the casual wear market with the launch of a new brand called Code, aimed at the younger, more casually dressed man, trying to compete against major players such as GAP, Marks & Spencer. Moss changed 40 of their stores into the new trading format, and then began to expand - but expand badly. The clothing was too expensive. The marketing was poor and all the foraying into casual wear did was eat up a great chunk of the capital. They were changing existing stores into the Code formats and sales were dropping on average 60 percent in each of the stores which were changed. And during this period, the market in the UK actually then began to shift back to formalwear. Companies, as in the US, started dropping the casual Friday look, clubs and restaurants started reintroducing jacket, shirt and tie rules and now Moss is in a very difficult situation. The Code stores have failed to attract new customers and the old ones have gone away. Their entire base had moved into a casual wear but the market has moved back to formalwear. Losses continue through ’99, 2000, 2001. In 2001, the decision was taken by the incoming chairman, Mr. Keith Hamill, that things must change. The family members who made up the bulk of the executive committee of the Moss Bros Board decided to step down and the decision was taken to bring in a new chief executive to lead a turn around team to help save the Moss Bros Group and that brings us up to date to March 2002.

TWST: And that’s when you began?

Mr. Wright: That’s when I joined as CEO.

TWST: I know you talked a little about Code. What’s the status of Code now, I mean where are you going with it?

Mr. Wright: The first decision that I took was to close the Code stores and bring them back under the Moss banner, which has been completed, so Code no longer exists.

TWST: From your website you said you operate 180 stores in the UK and you’re the UK’s fifth largest men’s retailer.

Mr. Wright: That’s right.