Timpson set for record year after investment

TIMPSON, the family-owned  key cutting, shoe, watch and photographic service company, has reported a jump in sales, but a dip in profits after a year of investment.

Chairman John Timpson told TheBusinessDesk he is confident the current financial year will be a “record year” after what he described as a “blip” in the year to September 27 2014.

“We have invested significantly in the business,” he said. “A year ago we bought Tesco’s Photo business and that brought with it 600 people and we had to put in new infrastructure around it. We hadn’t expected to do that deal then, but after our changes the sales are much  better and it’s justifying the investment.”

Mr Timpson, 73, a respected business author, well-known for his “upside down management” theory, said the Tesco deal had swelled employee numbers from 2,650 to more than 3,100.

Sales from the former Tesco business were £9.7m in 2014, but are expected to more than double in the current year to £25m, the company said in its group accounts.

Turnover rose from £144.6m to £169.4m, but after investing £3.8m, operating profitsd fell 12% to £11.9m and pre-tax profits fell 7.4% to £13.5m.

Mr Timpson senior, who runs the Wythenshawe-headquartered company with his son James, said he expected to see further growth in mobile phone and tablet repair, and also in the watch repair business.

“Watch repairs is the fastest growing part of what we do. We have opened a watch repair workshop for the top brands and we have a strategic plan to grow sales from £18m to £45m.”

Aside from its business activities, the family foundation supports the Manchester-based charity After Adoption. Last year the foundation raised £330,000 for After Adoption to extend its SafeBase support for adoptive families to 50 local authorities.

The company is also a firm believer in community rehabilitation of ex-offenders and has employed 350 in its shops, including 56 branch managers.