The Cotswold Company hailed a strong start to the year as its sales growth outpaced the broader home and furniture market.

Sales for the home furnishings retailer jumped 15% to £40.1m in the six months to 25 August, up from £35m last year.

Active customer numbers were up 21% year-on-year, which it attributed to “the strength of the Cotswold Company brand, highly effective digital marketing activities, and the benefits of the Company’s multi-channel model”.

The Cotswold Company’s in-store sales at its nine showrooms surged during the period driven by new categories and footfall growth as a result of geo-targeted digital marketing. It’s ecommerce business represents 80% of sales.

The Cotswold Company chief executive Ralph Tucker said: “The Cotswold Company continues to go from strength to strength, with sales growth significantly outperforming broader market data over the past six months.

“We believe this is once again a great endorsement of our strong brand, which is synonymous with great quality and timeless aesthetics, as well as increasing consumer demand for high-quality but affordable products built to last.

“We have a clear strategy to become one of the UK’s leading premium homeware brands. Our investments in our multi-channel proposition, geo-targeted digital marketing, and product and brand to ensure we have a best-in-class customer proposition have all delivered meaningful results.

“This gives us fantastic momentum as we head into the busy Christmas period, which will be enhanced by several exciting new product launches, the opening of new showrooms, and a brand refresh supported by a nationwide TV advertising campaign launching in the Autumn to introduce even more customers to the joys of our timeless and high-quality, made-to-last furniture and homeware.”

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