Despite the polite nod to the Roches Stores legacy, prams and Procter & Gamble are unlikely to be top of Templeman's priority list. Industry pundits predict that the company will move fast to put its stamp on Roches Stores once the deal is approved by the Competition Authority.

Templeman said Debenhams, which just bought the leaseholds of nine Irish Roches Stores outlets, will not be "too arrogant" to learn from Roches Stores, which he noted has been around for 105 years.

"Roches Stores are particularly strong on prams, " he said. He also highlighted Roches Stores' strength in personal care, notably in Procter & Gamble products, which Debenhams does not stock in its existing Irish stores. "There are always things we can learn, " he said.

The big push, though, will be to promote Debenhams' stable of fashion brands. Templeman distinguished Debenhams from competing department stores by noting that it is more "fashion" oriented. "One thing we have seen doing particularly well in the Republic are designer brands such as John Rocha, " he said.

Debenhams' in-house brand stable includes Jasper Conran, Julian McDonald and John Rocha. It launched Betty Jackson last year, and Templeman said it plans to announce two new designers next year, one British and the other international.

"Brown Thomas and Arnotts are strong, but we are in a different market, more fashion-oriented certainly in the number of brands, " Templeman said. He said there will continue to be a strong focus on childrenswear, which he said is "particularly strong" for Debenhams in Ireland.

The change of ownership will result in a shift of culture at the Roches Stores shops, which have remained sleepy in the main despite the high-profile overhaul of the flagship Henry Street branch.

Templeman described the Debenhams culture as "very customer-focused". The change will be about "identifying what skills people have", he said. "I am sure there are a lot of skills there. It's about learning our systems and processes."

Customer service is a relatively new focus for Debenhams, as it has bid to differentiate itself in a crowded British department store market, noted Martin Raymond, director of retail consultancy The Future Laboratory and former editor of Britain's influential Fashion Weekly. Major improvements were made under former chief Belinda Earl, who later moved to Jaeger and has been attempting to turn that from a sleepy brand to a major international player.

"Debenhams were highly criticised for customer service, " Raymond said. "If you were bored on a Thursday evening, you would go there to see what they were trying to do to customers. They have really turned it around, but customer service is still pretty average compared to what people are expecting."

Raymond said he would now compare Debenhams to US department stores such as Barneys or Bloomingdales.

"Customer service is what they will want to get right in Ireland, " he suggested. "They will have to retain staff, introduce a good ethos behind the scenes, introduce electronic point of sale systems that have strong information on customers, introduce special nights where you get to know the customer."

Designer-led homewares are a strong business for Debenhams, but the battle will be won or lost on women's fashion. In the past few years, Debenhams has moved the average age of its customers down from late 40s and early 50s to late 30s and early 40s by introducing brands such as Warehouse and Miss Selfridge.

The start of Debenhams' reincarnation was bringing in designers that were understandable to ordinary people, Raymond noted, and the store's "ladder approach" to fashion has proved successful.

"They introduced areas that dealt with essentials, 'masstige' products that are more designer but fitted in price with their competitors' basic offering, a premium range and on top of that a little luxury, bringing in capsule collections. The fragrance departments in Debenhams are now the equal of what you will see in Harrods."

Debenhams will also look at introducing more fast-moving customer basics, Raymond suggested.

"They will bring in more in-house collections in the way that Zara does to fill the timeline between new and old season in six weeks. It is the customer churn principle, working on 'customer flot' or keeping them coming in and out like tides. Department stores didn't traditionally do that."

To support its Irish expansion, Debenhams is likely to maximise its buying power to keep prices particularly competitive at the outset. Unlike most other department stores, the vast bulk of its stock is own-bought, which enables it to keep margins healthy.

The store has become tighter on suppliers' terms, noted Maureen Hinton of retail consultancy Verdict. "They have done a lot of extending terms from suppliers, which increases margins."

Hinton believes the Irish move is a good one for Debenhams. "What we are finding in the UK is that the department store market is very saturated. Ireland has a smaller population and in this way Debenhams is getting a foothold without diluting the market."

The acquisition of Roches Stores will not be the end of Debenhams' Irish expansion, with plans to open another two or three of the standard department stores in the country. "We are not represented in towns like Wexford, where there is a great opportunity, " Templeman said.

He said Debenhams also wants to bring the smaller format Desire stores into the Republic (see Page 1 story), and hopes to open about 20 of these female-only department stores across the island of Ireland. Debenhams is looking for sites, and Templeman said he believes the chain is still under-represented in the south of the country.

Wherever Debenhams opens, the priority will be the same. "What Debenhams will really be concerned about is customer need, " Raymond suggested.

"They are going into a market that wants brand . . . and that wasn't the case when they went into England."

In Britain, Debenhams' key competitors are the mid-market fashion retailers such as Marks & Spencer and Next. As to whether the traditional Roches Stores customer will go for the new offering, Templeman was again diplomatic. "We would be highly delighted if we could keep the Roches Stores customers, " he said. For the prams at least.