Press Release 18 th January 2009

YOU ARE BEING SERVED…AGAIN.

Selfridges re-creates Are You Being Served? in a one-off charity sale in honour of the late MBE

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Selfridges, the UK’s leading department store is to re-create Are You Being Served? as memorabilia belonging to the late Wendy Richard MBE is to be sold in aid of Lady Taveners charity.

“You Are Being Served Again” will be open for business at Selfridges, Oxford Street on January 19 th 2010, selling designer clothing, shoes and bags belonging to the late Wendy Richard MBE. Proceeds from the sale will be donated to Lady Taveners charity, which provides young people with special needs a sporting chance.

For one morning only, Wendy’s show business friends including , and Nicholas Smith - who played Mr Rumbold in Are You Being Served? - will help to sell the hundreds of designer outfits and accessories Wendy collected throughout her life from designers including Chanel, YSL and Gucci.

Wendy was best known for her role as the sexy Miss Brahms before going on to play the nation’s favourite soap personality, in EastEnders. She loved shopping and considered Selfridges her ‘corner shop’.

Sally Scott, Selfridges’ Director of Marketing said: “There are few television series that have stood the test of time as Are You Being Served?. Whilst Selfridges may be a little more modern than Grace Brothers we are looking forward to welcoming the characters, re-creating the set and raising monies for Lady Taveners.”

John Burns, Wendy Richard’s husband, said: “It will be great to see Wendy’s belongings at Selfridges in support of such a cause. I decided this would be a great way for Wendy to help The Lady Taverners. Wendy considered Selfridges her corner shop and would have been thrilled with the Are You Being Served? theme.”

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For further information or high res images please contact Lucy Gillis at ZPR on 020 7896 3404/07970 785 670 or email [email protected]

About Selfridges • The business was founded by American entrepreneur Gordon Selfridge in 1909 and run by him until he retired in 1940 and took on the role of President. Gordon Selfridge died in 1947. Four years later the business was sold to Lewis’ of Liverpool for £3.4 million. • In 1965 Charles Clore’s British Shoe Corporation won control of Selfridges in take-over for £63 million. New developments included the opening of Miss Selfridge. • In 1998 the company was de-merged from the Sears Group and floated on the London Stock Exchange. • In 2003 Galen Weston purchased Selfridges. He and his wife Hilary are closely involved with the development and growth of the company and their daughter Alannah is Creative Director. • In the year ended 31 January 2008, Selfridges’ sales rose by 10 per cent to £655 million and profit grew by 30 per cent to £84.1 million. • Galen Weston is Chairman of Selfridges and, in January 2004, Allan Leighton was appointed Deputy Chairman. • Paul Kelly became Chief Executive of Selfridges in February 2004. Before that, Paul was Managing Director of Brown Thomas in Dublin for ten years. He has worked with the Weston family for over 20 years. • Galen Weston is Chairman of the premier luxury goods company which, as well as Selfridges, includes Holt Renfrew in Canada and Brown Thomas in Ireland.

About Lady Taveners: The Lady Taverners is part of The Lord’s Taverners , the youth sports charity whose objective is to give young people a sporting chance . This year The Lord’s Taverners will donate nearly £2.5 million to help young people of all abilities and backgrounds participate in sporting activities by channelling funding into specific scheme

 Promoting youth cricket , particularly in disadvantaged areas – providing grants towards Non-Turf pitches, funding for youth cricket competitions and donating hundreds of cricket bags to clubs and school teams across the UK.

 Supporting recreational and sporting activities for youngsters with special needs – donating specially adapted minibuses and sports wheelchairs giving young people vital transportation and access to sport, and providing grants for play and sports equipment.

Fifty per cent of the funds awarded go to cricket projects - equipment and competitions for those young people playing the game at grass roots level in schools and clubs. The other half is awarded to special needs schools or organisations, supporting their work to encourage youngsters to participate in recreational activities and a wide range of disabled sports. The Lord’s Taverners is passionate about providing mobility and supplies specially adapted minibuses at a rate of almost one every week. It is also one of the leading funders of sports wheelchairs.

The Lord’s Taverners benefits hugely from the support its highly regarded members, many of them drawn from the world of sport and entertainment. The list includes Mike Gatting, Alastair Cook, Chris Tarrant, Andrew Flintoff, Bill Tidy, Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, Rachael Heyhoe Flint, James Haskell and Colin Salmon.

The Lord’s Taverners was founded in 1950 and has raised and distributed over £30m to schools, clubs and special needs organisations in the UK in the last decade.

You can find out more about The Lord’s Taverners and future fundraising events at www.lordstaverners.org