Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group has seen profits and sales rise over the last year as it hints at further growth by the end of the year.
In the year to February 2017 the group – which owns the eponymous retail chain along with fashion retailers Austin Reed, Peacocks and Jaeger – saw a 1.7 per cent rise in operating profits to £91.5 million, while like-for-like sales and total sales rose 2.7 per cent, the latter topping £592.1 million.
This was reportedly driven by “relentless” focus on improving its online offering, which saw online sales at Peacocks jump 23.8 per cent.
Having launched the Days department store earlier this year alongside the acquisition of Jaeger, the group’s chief operating officer Steve Simpson suggested that it could make more acquisitions in the near future.
“As a group, we are committed to driving growth both organically through the opening of new stores and, where synergistic opportunities present themselves, by acquisition,” he said.
“We expect that the group will be providing employment for a further 1,000 people by the end of the current year.”
“Though the Days department store concept we can bring more of the brands our customers want into a high street closer to where they live.
“We are constantly on the lookout for new sites and are investing in local high streets at the heart of regional communities. Alongside organic growth we are constantly looking for new opportunities and our Days department store concept is a good example of this.”
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