Harrods to open store in Milton Keynes before the end of the year

The store will be called H Beauty and will sell a host of luxury skincare and beauty brands, including Chanel, Dior and Huda Beauty.

Customers will also be able to have on the spot treatments such as facials and hair blow-dries.

House of Fraser closed down in January and Harrods, whose owners owned the lease under an historic contract, are poised to take over.

A Harrods spokesman said today: "We will launch our first H beauty store in Essex around June time and then Milton Keynes will follow. We don’t have a confirmed date for this yet but I imagine it’ll be in the autumn."

It is not yet known how many new jobs the store will bring to Milton Keynes, but already the company is advertising for staff for the Essex H Beauty branch, which will be at Lakeside shopping centre.

That store will host a ‘coffee-to-cocktail’ bar and it expected Milton Keynes will feature the same.

The Harrods spokesman said: "By launching our new H Beauty’store, Harrods is bringing more magic, innovation and theatre to the beauty market. With H beauty, we will meet a demand from beauty customers for experiential retail that allows them to creatively engage with and learn more about the beauty products they are purchasing, while enjoying a fun and creative retail environment."

Harrods’ Director of Beauty, Annalise Fard, said: “From the rise of K-Beauty and J-Beauty to personalisation, the ability to express our individuality through beauty today is extraordinary. We are entering an era of true self-expression, empowerment and celebration of identity, and I can’t wait for H beauty to be a destination for beauty lovers to play, explore and try."