Update On Trading, Strategy and Board Changes

Great Universal Stores PLC
13 January 2000

                                                     

                       THE GREAT UNIVERSAL STORES P.L.C.
                 UPDATE ON TRADING, STRATEGY AND BOARD CHANGES

The  Great  Universal  Stores  P.L.C. ('GUS') today  announces  an  update  on
trading, strategy and board changes.

Trading highlights (14 weeks to 8 January 2000)

* Argos total sales up 9.2%; like for like sales up 6.9%
* UK  Home  Shopping sales decline 3.5%, a recovery from 6.5%  decline  during
  six months to 30 September 1999
* Experian  business trends unchanged:  UK positive while US continues  to  be
  affected by factors highlighted last month
* Experian  e-commerce  initiatives proceeding well  -  eg  new  project  with
  Amazon.com to create internet identity authentication solution
* Trends in other businesses broadly in line with expectations
* Burberry  renews  Japanese  licensing arrangements  -  profits  expected  to
  benefit by at least £6m in its first full year

Chief Executive's Review

* Primary   focus  on  three  core  business  areas  -  Information   Services
  (Experian), Multi-channel Catalogue Retailing, and e-commerce Services
* Review  of  operations, cost base and revenue streams initiated.  £25m  cost
  savings in UK Home Shopping already identified for year ending March 2001

Board Changes

* Lord  Wolfson  to  retire as Chairman during 2000, to be  succeeded  by  Sir
  Victor Blank

John Peace, Chief Executive said:

'The  trading figures at Argos are encouraging with the performance reflecting
initiatives  put in place last year.  We are creating the UK's largest  multi-
channel  retailer by combining Argos with GUS Home Shopping. This business  is
well  positioned to meet customers' needs in a changing market -  as  are  our
other two key business areas.'

    A conference call for analysts and investors will be held at 08.30 this
   morning.  Delegates should dial in on 0208 781 0579 and should quote 'GUS
                                 Analyst Call'
                                       
Enquiries:

G.U.S.         John Peace          Chief Executive     Tel:  [phone]
               David Tyler         Finance Director

Finsbury       Rupert Younger                          Tel:  [phone]
               Timothy Grey
                                       
                 UPDATE ON TRADING, STRATEGY AND BOARD CHANGES

1.  CHRISTMAS TRADING

Argos

Total  sales for the 14 weeks to 8 January 2000 were 9.2% above those  of  the
equivalent period last year.  Excluding new store openings which accounted for
2.3%  of  the  growth,  like-for like sales were up by  6.9%.   This  compares
favourably with the like-for-like sales reduction of 3.0% recorded in the  six
months  to  30  September 1999.  Gross margins in the last three  months  were
above those achieved last year.

Sales  benefited  from  the  introduction of the new  single  catalogue  which
increased  the  range of goods available in most stores  by  30%.  Argos  also
benefited from more effective promotional activity and from in-store  customer
service  improvements which have enhanced the quality of the customer shopping
experience.

Sales  through Argos Direct, which now provides national home delivery on  the
whole range of Argos products, rose by over 20% in this period.

Demand  for  Argos' expanding e-commerce services through www.argos.co.uk  and
Open  interactive  digital  TV exceeded forecast.   Argos  has  now  signed  a
contract with Telewest to be a content provider on its interactive TV shopping
service.  Opportunities in e-commerce are a high priority for the business and
investment  continues at Argos with spend this financial year of  up  to  £5m,
largely  through the profit and loss account, expected to grow to around  £10m
next  financial  year.   This investment is directed towards  developing  both
internet  and  digital TV shopping services and the fulfilment  infrastructure
that supports them.

The  trial  of  Argos  Additions, the new clothing based catalogue,  has  been
successful and will be widened to over 50 stores from the end of January.  Our
aim is to extend this offer to achieve nationwide coverage in the autumn.

UK Home Shopping

Total  sales for the 14 weeks to 8 January 2000 were 3.5% below those  of  the
same  period  last year.  This is a recovery from the 6.5% decline experienced
in  the  six  months  to  30 September 1999, reflecting  improved  trading  in
December  partly arising from price reductions in clothing merchandise.  Sales
of  hard  goods remained firm and were in line with last year with the overall
reduction in the latest three month period caused by a continuing weakness  in
clothing  sales which were 10% down.  Demand for the business' merchandise  on
the internet was six times that of a year ago.

Gross margins for the period were 1% below those of the same period last year,
including  the  impact  of December's price reductions on  clothing.   Dormant
stock levels at the beginning of January were below the equivalent position in
January 1999.

Experian

Experian's  revenues  in  the  USA continue to  be  affected  by  the  factors
highlighted  at  the  time of our interim results on 2  December  1999.  These
relate  to the short term impacts of the relocation of staff and the  building
of  a  major  new  marketing data warehouse; to the effect of higher  interest
rates on the revenues of our associate which provides information for mortgage
related  transactions; and to delays in customers' purchasing decisions  ahead
of  the millennium.  We anticipate the American business will improve in  2000
once  the  factors  which have affected the last few months no  longer  apply.
Experian is continuing to show positive trends in the UK.

E-commerce developments at Experian are proceeding well.  For example, it  has
commenced  a  project  with  Amazon.com to  create  a  customised  version  of
Experian's  identity authentication service for the internet  -  part  of  its
Insight offering - which will initially be on Amazon's auction sites.

Other businesses

The  underlying trends in the rest of the Group are broadly in line with those
noted in our interim results on 2 December 1999.

Burberry

New Japanese licensing agreement

Burberry  continues  to  make  progress towards  repositioning  itself  as  an
international  luxury  brand in its wholesale and retail  markets  around  the
world.  It  has just concluded the main part of a twenty year renewal  of  its
Japanese  licencing  arrangements.   The incremental  profit  contribution  to
Burberry  from these arrangements, once they have been completed, will  be  at
least  £6m (at current volumes and Yen exchange rates) in the first full  year
which  begins in July 2000.  The profit contribution from this arrangement  is
expected  to  grow  very significantly over the following five  years  as  the
royalty rates increase.

Japan  is  Burberry's  largest market where it has been trading  for  over  85
years.    Burberry's  annual  sales  at  retail  value  there,  amounting   to
approximately £700m, exceed those of any other non-Japanese clothing brand.

2.  STATEMENT ON GROUP STRATEGY BY JOHN PEACE, GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Since  my appointment as Chief Executive, my priority has been to clarify  key
strategic goals for the Group and to focus senior management on them.  I  have
also  initiated  a  root and branch review of the operations,  cost  base  and
revenue streams within each of our key business areas.

The  Board's guiding objectives are clear: profitable long term growth in  our
key  business  areas, the maintenance of an efficient capital  structure,  and
delivering shareholder value across the Group.

Strategy and focus

GUS' strategy is to focus primarily on three key business areas:

*    Information  services  through Experian.  This business  operates  in  an
     increasingly  global market, which over the years has been  characterised
     both  by strong underlying growth and by high barriers to entry where  we
     benefit from years of data accumulation, investment in technology and the
     trust  of  our  customers.  Our leading position in  this  market  offers
     tremendous opportunity for developing the business profitably,  not  only
     in  traditional markets but, increasingly, through our growing activities
     supporting e-business.  Our strategy of providing total solutions to  our
     clients has been successful in the UK and is being emulated in the United
     States.

*    Multi-channel catalogue retailing.  The UK home shopping market, in which
     we  are  the  market  leader, is currently worth  about  £10bn.   We  are
     positive  about the future growth of remote shopping as a  whole  despite
     the  decline in agency home shopping. We are positioning the business  to
     benefit  from  this potential.  Argos is a trusted, value retailer  whose
     catalogues are in over 60% of UK households.  Its customer base  provides
     substantial  marketing  opportunities, which  have  not  yet  been  fully
     exploited  by the Group. We are going to combine the Argos business  with
     GUS  Home  Shopping.   This  will create the UK's  largest  multi-channel
     retailer  which  already sells through the internet, interactive  TV  and
     direct  home  shopping catalogues as well as through  retail  stores  and
     through  agency home shopping. Terry Duddy and his management  team  have
     already demonstrated success in positioning the Argos business for growth
     and Terry will now take overall responsibility for progressing this major
     initiative.  Paul Harris will be retiring from the Group in March.

*    E-commerce  services.  We have unique skills and capabilities within  our
     home  shopping  operations and Experian.  We plan  to  exploit  these  in
     service  businesses  for  both new e-commerce merchants  and  traditional
     retailers now selling through new channels.  A dedicated management  team
     is  being  put in place to develop our e-commerce services as a  distinct
     business  unit.   We already provide clients with a variety  of  services
     including  target  marketing; credit-checking; account  processing;  call
     centre operations; warehousing; and delivery and returns-handling.  White
     Arrow  is  the largest parcel delivery operation to homes in the  UK  and
     already  carries  out 30% of its deliveries for third parties.   Experian
     provides  unrivalled  services  in the UK  across  a  range  of  business
     services.

These three key business areas reinforce each other because of two of the core
competencies we have in the Group - sophisticated data management on  the  one
hand  and  fulfilment and logistics on the other.  We believe  the  Group  can
benefit from links between the two.

We will keep under review the question of whether Experian should be separated
from  the  Group,  balancing these benefits against the  potential  for  value
enhancement  from  separation.  We have invested in our other  businesses  and
will  continue  to  do  so.   For  example,  we  have  undertaken  significant
investment  in  Burberry to rebuild the business and  reposition  it  for  the
future.   For these businesses, we will review regularly their development  to
assess  whether  full ownership is the best way to achieve maximum  value  for
shareholders.

Operational Review

We  have initiated a searching review of the Group's operations, cost base and
revenue  streams  within  our key business areas.   Cost  efficiency  and  the
quality of service will be key drivers for success of the Group in the future.
We  are exploring all the options, ranging from internal streamlining and cost
reduction  measures, through to outsourcing and joint ventures in  appropriate
operational areas.

We  have  set  challenging  deadlines for  the  review's  completion  and  the
implementation  of  its  conclusions.  A  business  review  of  our  catalogue
retailing businesses is being led by Terry Duddy and will report by the end of
May.   Among other things, this review will examine the fixed cost  base,  the
optimal  use  of infrastructure and data assets and its management  structure.
Our  initial  view is that we will be able to reduce ongoing fixed  and  other
costs  in  the home shopping business by at least £25m in the year  ending  31
March 2001.

I  will report further on the progress of these initiatives, including our  e-
commerce business unit, when I report on our final results in June.

3.  BOARD CHANGES

GUS announces the following further moves in succession planning on its Board,
initiated with the announcement in October of the appointment of John Peace as
Group Chief Executive.

The  Chairman,  Lord Wolfson of Sunningdale, plans to retire in November  2000
when he will be 65.

The  Board  has  invited  Sir Victor Blank to become Chairman  following  Lord
Wolfson's retirement.