Turnover at Harrods rose to almost £900 million last year as foreign shoppers poured back into London after all pandemic era travel restrictions were finally lifted.
Accounts for the Knightsbridge luxury department store show an 8% rise in revenues from £831.6 million to £898.4 million in the 53 weeks to 3 February 2024.
The turnover is the highest on record for the Qatari owned store by itself, which this year celebrates its 175th anniversary. However, the broader Harrods group of companies recorded just over £1 billion of sales immediately before the pandemic
The accounts filed at Companies House last week reveal that operating profits at London’s biggest department store rose slightly from £158.4 million to £162.9 million.
Harrods’ sales and profits have bounced back strongly since the pandemic which forced the closure of the store during two long lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.
The store is heavily dependent on spending by foreign visitors and the last curbs on travel by Chinese tourists were not lifted until the start of this year.
Harrods bosses have been highly critical of the ending of VAT free shopping for overseas tourists since the perk was axed by Rishi Sunak in 2021.
Harrods’ long standing managing director Michael Ward said of the so called “tourist tax”: “There is very clear, factual evidence to show Paris has done disproportionately well as a consequence of this. It’s not just the tax-free goods they buy. It’s the extra nights in a hotel, it’s the money they spend around Paris, the meals they’ve bought. It’s the spill-over effect of the visit.”
