Instore signals return of Poundstretcher as losses deepen
BUDGET retail group Instore saw losses more than double last year to £5.8m but its new owner believes it can return to profitability and ensure its long-term survival by returning to its Poundstretcher value-for-money roots.
The Huddersfield-based group was acquired last year by cash & carry entrepreneur Aziz Tayub, who became chief executive in November, replacing Peter Burdon, and Mr Tayub has begun the process of dropping the Instore brand and going back to the Poundstretcher name.
Instore saw losses before tax and exceptional items of £5.8m in the year to February 28 compared to £2.2m a year earlier, while sales were £295.8m, down 0.3%.
Mr Tayub, who owns 56.89% of the company, also controls Crown Crest a Leicester-based a cash and carry firm which specialises in food.
He has injected loans and trade credit facilities into the business, allowing it to buy £5.2m of stock from the administrators following the collapse of Woolworths.
The group has shut 13 of the 33 former Ponden Mill stores it acquired in December 2007 but still has 308 stores in the UK.
Chairman John Jackson said: “The present trading environment is extremely challenging. Although there are indications that the value sector has benefited to some extent from the current recession, any such trend will inevitably mean that the sector will become even more competitive.
“This makes the current year of exceptional importance in re-establishing further the credentials of the Poundstretcher brand in order to secure the longer term future of the business,” he said.
Mr Tayub added: “The financial results for the full year, while extremely disappointing, reflect the magnitude of the challenges encountered in the year.”
He said the move back to the Poundstretcher name was “toward brand consistency and a re-energising of the Poundstretcher brand”.
