Lakeland profits dip despite tasty sales

LAKELAND, the family-owned kitchen products retailer, enjoyed yet another year of record-breaking sales thanks to the trend for clean eating and the nation’s continuing love affair with home baking.

With the BBC’s last series of The Great British Bake Off currently airing, before the show moves to Channel 4, the Lake District-based company’s annual results for 2015 have been released.

The popularity of cookery programmes such as GBBO and the trend for healthy food gadgets such as spiralisers helped to push the business to another record turnover year.

Turnover increased 1.9% to £179m for the 12 months to the end of December 2015, with a 20% increase in international sales.

However, the kitchen retailer’s profits have fallen more than 40% to £3.3m, down from £5.6m the previous year.

Gross margin was 51.2%, down one percentage point on last year, as a result of ‘competitive’ trading conditions and the costs of expanding its warehouse in Windermere.

The company, which employs 1,934 staff, has 69 stores in the UK, and also trades in Germany, India and the Middle East.

The firm also gave more than £101,000 to Children in Need through sales of Pudsey products.

Close