The Harston Group is a new company that is making its first appearance at this month's Duty Free Show of the Americas in conjunction with Egana Goldpfeil (2105).

The Harston Group was created following the announcement by Timex that its duty free business will be handled by regional domestic teams as of May 1, 2009.

Harston will now be headed up by the much-respected Margaret Taylor, supported by the familiar faces of Hans Eulenhoefer, Regional Director; Stephanie Hum, Commercial Director; and Anthony Daintry, Regional Director.

Taylor said: ‘We're really excited about the future for the Harston Group. We've put together a dynamic portfolio of superb young, trendy and niche brands, including just signed Jacques Farel watches, which we think has great potential in the market place.

‘Not only that, we're moving into new areas with a ranges of jewellery and eyewear and into manufacturing with our own brand of travel clocks and toys, thus becoming a supplier as well as an agency company. We believe this will make us a stronger force in the travel retail sector and give us an edge over competitors.’

The company says that in all instances distribution for these brands will be to new markets and not affect any agreements that are already in place.

Both Hans Eulenhoefer and Stephanie Hum will be present in Fort Lauderdale for the launch of Harston Group brands to the travel retail sector, then moving on to join Margaret Taylor at Basel World, where the collections can be seen on the Egana Goldpfeil (A81, Hall 1.1) and Jacques Farel (A39, Hall 6) stands.

The brands represented by the Harston Group in various duty free channels include: (watches) Egana (excluding inflight sales already handled by Scorpio Distributors, or those in the Middle East, Egypt, Brazil and South Africa handled by domestic distributors); Puma Time; Esprit; Jacques Farel (new markets).

In Jewellery & Accessories the brands represented include Cuffwear and Esprit jewellery (excluding in-flight, the Middle East and Egypt); and in eyewear they include Ted Baker London; Shanghai Tang and Pepe Jeans.

Ranges of travel clocks under the Arren brand and toys under the Welli name will also be handled.

Taylor added: ‘I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all the customers that we have been working with on behalf of Timex for their great support. All of us at The Harston Group look forward to continuing the great relationships that we've built over the years and to introducing our fabulous new collections to you.’