Convenience store chain McColl’s has surpassed £1 billion in full year sales for the first time and has laid out plans to continue expansion throughout 2018.
In the full year to November 26, the retailer posted annual revenue of £1.1 billion, up from £950 million a year prior.
Like-for-like sales over the period edged also up 0.1 per cent, while profits rose 3.9 per cent to £18.4 million.
“We have delivered a strong financial performance with a step-up in sales and profitability propelled by our acquisition of 298 convenience stores, and by surpassing £1 billion in annual revenues for the first time we have demonstrated that this is now a business of real scale,” chief executive Jonathan Miller said.
“Our convenience-led strategy continues to bear fruit, reflected by a sustained improvement in gross margin as we strengthened our product mix and the proportion of convenience stores has grown to 80 per cent of our estate.”
Since then sales have taken a hit dropping 2.2 per cent in the 11 weeks to February 11, reportedly due to the collapse of supply chain giant Palmer & Harvey.
Despite this, total sales have risen 26.7 per cent plans have been made for a short-term supply deal with Nisa alongside further expansion.
“Continuing this momentum, this year we will significantly enhance our customer offer as we transition supply in over 1300 stores to Morrisons and exclusively launch hundreds of new Safeway-branded products at McColl’s,” Miller added.
“We will also further invest and improve the quality of our estate by extending our successful convenience store refresh programme to 100 additional stores this year.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our hard-working colleagues and loyal customers, as we look forward to making further progress on our journey to become your neighbourhood’s favourite shop. 2018 is set to be another busy year for McColl’s, and I remain confident and excited about our future.”
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