Trading Update

Great Universal Stores PLC
26 July 2000

                       THE GREAT UNIVERSAL STORES P.L.C.
                              JULY TRADING UPDATE


At the AGM later this morning, the Chairman will update shareholders on
trading in the Group's main businesses in the current financial year.

The Group as a whole is trading broadly in line with market expectations.


Argos Retail Group

Year to date sales to 22 July at Argos were 15% above last year. Excluding new
store openings, which accounted for 3% of the growth, like-for-like sales were
up 12%.  While the single catalogue remained the largest driver of this
growth, Argos has also benefited from its competitive pricing and enhanced
service. Gross margins were above those for the same period last year.

Sales in UK Home Shopping, as anticipated, have followed a similar trend to
last year and, for the period to 22 July, were down 6% due to the continued
weakness in demand for clothing and a planned reduction in customer
recruitment expenditure.  Gross margins were in line with last year.


Experian

Experian's sales and profits grew in the first quarter of the year, reflecting
a turnround in performance compared with the second half of last year.
Underlying sales rose in each geographic region with new contract wins
accelerating in the first quarter, underpinning future revenue.

In North America, Experian announced on 21 July a partnership with eFunds,
allowing Experian to use cheque account debit information with its consumer
credit database.  The use of both credit and debit information will allow
Experian to provide a broader picture of consumers, improving the quality of
the credit-making decisions of its clients.


Reality

Since its launch on 17 May, Reality has signed ten new external contracts with
a total run rate of £11m per annum.  These contracts range over all of
Reality's activities: e-commerce services, customer contact and logistics.  It
is also engaged in discussions with a significant number of further
prospective clients.


Burberry

Sales at Burberry in the first quarter were well above last year, both in
Burberry's own retail stores and in wholesale where both current shipments and
forward orders are showing strong growth.


South Africa

In South Africa, sales were substantially lower than the same quarter last
year when trade was particularly strong.



Enquiries:

GUS          David Tyler         Finance Director       Tel: [phone]
Finsbury     Timothy Grey                               Tel: [phone]

The announcement is also available on the GUS website: www.gusplc.co.uk