Footasylum opens at Trafford Centre as sales soar 50%

FOOTASYLUM, the retail chain owned by the co-founder of JD Sports, reduced losses to £1.7m from £2.2m as turnover grew by 50% to £17.7m, newly-filed accounts reveal.

The Bury company which is owned by John Wardle is opening its 22nd shop on Saturday at the Trafford Centre, one of several new sites opening in the current financial year.

Founded in 2005 after Mr Wardle – the former majority shareholder in Manchester City FC – and business partner David Makin sold their holdings in JD, Footasylum now has shops in some of the country’s leading retail centres including Westfield in London, the Bullring in Birmingham, the Bluewater in Kent and Manchester Arndale Centre.

In the year to the end of February, Footasylum grew staff numbers by 80 to 335 as it opened three new stores. Footasylum stocks branded foorwear from Nike trainers to Timberland shoes and Ugg boots and has also developed its own brand of menswear.

In their business review, the directors, which include Mssrs Makin and Wardle. say the company is making “positive progress”, with gross margins increasing and like-for-like sales growing.

“Three new stores were added during the year and several are currently planned in the year to February 2011 as the business continues to gain momentum and progress postitively.

“The group is well funded and continues to focus and invest in its infrastructure and strength of its management team. The directors are also confident that the business is well-placed to exploit current market opportunities, albeit on a prudent and cautious basis.”