Cost consultant and project manager AYH has been appointed by fashion chain New Look to manage the refurbishment of 31 former Littlewoods stores across the UK.

AYH will take on the role of lead consultant, responsible for , quantity surveying and planning supervision at all 31 sites, which will provide New Look with a further 400,000 ft2 of retail space.

The client, which has 540 stores in the UK and Ireland, has agreed to acquire the stores from Associated British Foods, which bought the Littlewoods portfolio earlier this year. It is part of New Look鈥檚 wider strategy of increasing its store space to 5 million ft2 over the next 10 years.

The refurbishment work will start in January and is scheduled for completion by August next year.

Brian Young will lead the project for AYH, which will be working alongside JKL Architects. The contract is an extension of a framework agreement signed last spring between New Look and AYH.

Gary Wilks, project services manager at New Look in charge of the project, described it as 鈥渁 huge task鈥� but said that he was confident AYH could deliver the projects.

AYH is part of the Arcadis Group, and its clients include bookmaker Ladbrokes, HSBC, Asda and pub operator Mitchells & Butlers.