NEW YORK, Jul 26, 2001/ --- The UK's Great Universal Stores (GUS) is meeting with criticism from industry insiders on its timing of the Burberry IPO. Many fear that the partial offering, planned for June 2002, will come too late to cash in on the brand's current success. We may be seeing the famous Burberry check on everything from bikinis to bucket hats today, but will this trend last another 10 months?

David Tyler, Burberry's finance director, thinks it will. Tyler insists that "Burberry is not a flash in the pan trend, we have a huge business in Japan, and a growing market in Spain and a range of products that will be the British brand for luxury goods."

Burberry posted total sales growth of 46 percent this quarter. Wholesale orders for Burberry's autumn and w inter 2001 lines are looking good so far, though they aren't rivaling last year's "exceptional" levels, said CEO John Peace.

GUS has announced that Burberry chairman Victor Barnett will be stepping down in preparation for the impending IPO. Chairman since February 1998, he is leaving to pave the way for the appointment of an independent, non-executive chairman. He will remain a GUS director.

Burberry plans to float up to 25 percent of the company in the IPO. It is expected to be valued at more than $2 billion.

Though GUS has reported strong first-quarter sales growth by its main businesses, it is still cutting 150 jobs at Experian, its North American information services division. Peace said the company is striving to mitigate the impact of the global economic slowdown.