£39m windfall for Selfridges owner

THE owner of department chain Selfridges has pocketed a £39m windfall after a sales surge as foreign shoppers seized on the weaker pound.

Canadian tycoon Galen Weston, 77, reaped this year’s £38.5m dividend thanks to a 16pc jump in sales to £1.6bn during the year to January.

The businessman snapped up the 109-yearold business for a reported £598m in 2003.

This boom has partly been driven by the drop in the pound since the Brexit vote, which has driven a surge in visitors from China, the Middle East and America seeking luxury goods.

A £300m effort to transform the company’s flagship store in Oxford Street and revamp its online operation has also paid off.