House of Fraser

Iceland wasn't the only country that lost the run of itself but because it was such a small economy and because its banks had grown to a size the country could never really support when the whole thing came crashing down the consequences for Iceland and for the people of Iceland were particularly you know severe and of course it wasn't just ordinary Icelanders who were borrowing money You had this small group of very, very wealthy businessmen with Thor leading the charge who owned big stakes in Iceland's banks and were using them almost like their own personal piggy banks to finance the purchase of businesses all over Europe.

And they became known as the business Vikings and they were snapping up some of Britain's and Europe's best known retailers including like House of Fraser, Hamleys, Debenhams As well as investing in airlines, property, banks, food companies across Europe.

Like Thor's own father led a consortium that bought the premiership club West Ham United in 2006.

And I remember these business vikings, they were being hailed as this new wave of super astute businessmen.

We previously reported that the business was acquired by Mike Ashley's Fraser Group in July 2026.

The group also owns House of Fraser, Sports Direct, Flannels, Game, Evans Cycles and USC, as well as the House of Fraser building on Buchanan Street.

Brayhead Shopping Centre in Renfrew and the Overgate Centre in Dundee.

A supplier notice from Greaves confirmed the acquisition and stated that the company had changed its name to Clydesdale Sports Retail Ltd, a nod to its origins.

I used to work in

House of Fraser.

Yeah, that is how we did it.

But yeah, so I did all of my internships.