On the up, down at the heel

WOMEN who are prepared to suffer for fashion's sake are boosting the takings at High Street shoe repair chain Timpson. As the Jimmy Choo shoes empire changed hands earlier this week for £21m, stiletto heels for those of more modest means are now are at their most popular since their heyday in the 1960s, with London stepping out ahead of the rest of the country.

Timpson chairman and chief executive John Timpson believes they are set for an even greater resurgence and has placed a bet with bookmakers William Hill that his nationwide chain of 325 shops will replace at least half-a-million stiletto tips by 2004.

Although that is still only half the number of heels handled by the group in the Sixties, Timpson appears to be well on the way to winning the bet.

In the year ending last month, his shops experienced a 180% rise in stiletto repairs. Anticipating yet more demand, Timpson's technical manager, 58-year-old John Higgs, has spent months creating replacement heel tips and special repair tools needed to service the heels.

The group, which enjoyed profits of £3.13m on turnover of £45.9m last year, plans to roll out more repair, key cutting and engraving shops in London in the next few weeks. Outlets are planned for Victoria railway station, along the Embankment and in the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, adding to the existing 27 shops within the M25.

The Timpson repair chain was created when Timpson completed a management buyout from Hanson-owned UDS Group in 1983. He sold the Timpson footwear business to Oliver Group in 1987. Timpson is 'absolutely keen on staying privately owned'. He was 'not entirely enamoured with being a public company when owned by Hanson'.