Iconic high street department store House of Fraser started off as a sole drapery shop named Arthur & Fraser in Glasgow 170 years ago.

After changing its name to Fraser & Sons in 1891 and then to House of Fraser in 1941 it would go on to become one of the most recognisable shopping brands in the UK that currently employs more than 17,000 people.

After the Second World War, several acquisitions transformed the company into a national chain and the purchase of Harrods in 1957 turned it into a nationwide powerhouse.

In 1985 the company was bought by Mohamed Al-Fayed for £615m but it became a public limited company in 1994 with the Egyptian billionaire retaining private ownership of Harrods.

By the end of the millennium it had launched a range of "house brands", including menswear, womenswear and homeware.

In 2003, the Jenners and Beatties department store chains became part of the House of Fraser brand, including the Jenners store in Edinburgh.

As recently as 2013, it was heralding the launch of its first international store in Abu Dhabi and achieved record Christmas sales in 2014.

That same year, House of Fraser was bought by Chinese conglomerate Sanpower Group for £480m.

There are now four House of Fraser stores in Scotland and more than 50 throughout the UK.

However it has been unable to resist the tide that has decimated high streets around Britain, as shoppers' habits have changed with the rise of the internet.

On Friday it was announced that Sports Direct had acquired every House of Fraser store in the UK including the brand and all of the stock in the business for a reported £90m.

The move came just hours after the troubled department store announced that it had appointed administrators after talks with possible Chinese buyer C.Banner broke down last month.

Administrators Ernst and Young announced that they were seeking a buyer for House of Fraser on Friday morning.

C.Banner, the Chinese owner of Hamleys, had initially intended to buy a 51% stake and plough £70m into the retailer but talks broke down and plunged House of Fraser into a crisis.