IT failure blamed for Hamleys profit slump

NEWS The profits of UK toy retailer, Hamleys, have dropped by almost 50 per cent in the last six months, mainly because it failed to integrate its computer systems successfully with subsidiary company, Toystack. Hamleys chairman, Howard Dyer, announced interim profits of just £656,000 yesterday, blaming "problems with the integration of Toystack's stock and merchandising system". Reports suggest that Toystack's systems failed to notify staff when stocks of best-selling toys had run out, resulting in low sales. Dyer claims the system has now been fixed, but said profits will remain low until the next financial year. Hamleys took over Toystack - a chain of toy retailers - last year, giving it at least ten months to merge its systems. Finance director, John Foster, was not available for comment at the time of writing, but Dyer told the Independent newspaper: "We have messed it up." Dyer assured staff that no-one will be blamed for the mistake.