Retail:  Pamela Scott, one of the few remaining Irish family-owned fashion chains, is to embark on a major expansion of its business less than a month after opening new stores in Carlow and Tralee.

The Carlow outlet is located at Fair Green Shopping Centre while the one in Tralee is trading at the Central Plaza. The holding company, Flairline Fashions, is now operating 18 stores and over the next two years will add five more at Dundrum Town Centre in Dublin, Scotch Hall Shopping Centre in Drogheda, Mahon Point in Cork as well as Galway and Navan.

The group was founded 22 years ago by Sean Barron who still runs the business along with sons, John, Richard, Robert and Scott. The company is currently using part of its South William Street premises in Dublin as a retail outlet for ski clothing and next year will move its wholesale business to a new €4m warehouse in Fashion City off the M50.

Apart from Pamela Scott outlets, the company also operates the Escada store on Grafton Street, Ashley Reeves in three Dublin shopping centres, Lisa Perkins in Blackrock Shopping Centre and Richard Alan in both Dublin and Cork.