A COMPANY owned by well-known retailers Louis and Adrian Copeland has been listed for strike off by the Companies Office.

Dublin-based Louis Copeland Sons has been designated for strike-off for failing to file accounts on time for the year ended June 2007.

The menswear retailer, which lists its clients as having included Pierce Brosnan, Tom Jones and Kevin Spacey, was required to file the accounts by March 31st of this year.

The latest accounts filed by Louis Copeland Sons were for the year ended June 30th, 2006, and were lodged in January of this year. Companies are required to file their accounts within nine months of their year end. When contacted by The Irish Times, Louis Copeland said its failure to submit the documents on time was an administrative error. "It will be done tomorrow," he said.

Louis Copeland Sons is one of three companies that files accounts on behalf of the retailer, which has five shops in Dublin and one in Galway. Mr Copeland and his brother Adrian also operate shops in Dundrum Town Centre under the Gant and Boss brands.

The other companies are Louis Copeland (Galway) Ltd and Louis Copeland (Pembroke Street) Ltd. Both of these companies filed their annual returns and accounts by their due date this year.

According to Mr Copeland, the group's turnover grew by 3 per cent to about €10 million in the year to the end of June 2008. He said the group generated pre-tax profits of about €1 million.

He said sales in June and July were about 15 per cent down on the same two months of 2007.

"It's the biggest drop I've seen in the business in the past 20 years. Fortunately, August is starting to come back a little bit."

Mr Copeland attributed the recent decline in sales to the impact of the economic downturn on his customers.

"You get the vibe that things aren't as rosy as they used to be," he said.