Listed butcher reports dip in revenue amid continued high street woes
Crawshaw Group, the Rotherham-based butcher, has seen a fall in revenues after a ‘disappointing’ first half to the year.
For the period ending 29 July, the listed business reported a 1.9% drop in group revenue down to £21.6m, compared to the £22.1m achieved at the same time in 017.
The company also saw a pre-tax loss of £1.7m (2017: loss of £1.2m), and half year like-for-like sales were -13.2% (2017: -4.2%).
Crawshaw noted that out for a total network of 54 stores, 12 factory shops produce 30% of overall group sales.
With 42 high street stores trading, Crawshaw is also looking to review its structure and investment in traditional high street locations due to the increasing pressure put under UK high streets.
In May, the firm announced Jim Viggars, previously head of fresh meat at Asda, had been appointed CEO and Nick Taylor as CFO.
Due to this poor start, the Board expect full year group sales to January 2019 to be flat on the previous year and an underlying operating loss of approximately £3m.
Jim Viggars, Crawshaw CEO, said: “Clearly the results for H1 are disappointing, but not entirely a surprise given market conditions and the issues that face a retail estate that has too many high street stores and currently not enough factory stores.
“However, the important issue is the future growth and profitably of Crawshaw. The new management team has identified what it considers to be the key issues and are moving at pace to remedy them on a sustainable basis.
“This is achievable over the medium term, despite market conditions which include declining high street shopper numbers, increasing convenience and online shopping and retail pricing that is more competitive.
“Our factory stores continue to produce good returns and have substantial room to improve as we get to grips with the supply chain and operational standards. Factory stores are our priority for growth and this is reflected in our plans to open a further 20 stores over the next two years.
“Taking Crawshaw online by utilising our bespoke butchers’ shop WF Burtons of Pocklington provides another new route to market. This will enable us to reach many more consumers who choose online shopping as part of their shopping repertoire. Our key point of difference will be providing a farm to fork Givendale British beef range of high-quality cuts at market leading prices.”
Jim McCarthy, Crawshaw chairman, added: “The new leadership team has a significant amount of experience working in the meat industry. They have identified the core issues affecting the business and are actively implementing a programme of change.
“We recognise that some of our existing High Street stores are not core to our future growth. Our Factory store format is attractive to consumers and we intend to accelerate the growth of this proven model, constantly refining value, operational standards and the overall shopping experience that is key in driving sales and profitability.
“We are also trialling initiatives in both convenience and online channels in order to meet changing customer shopping requirements. We believe we will be able to achieve this at relatively low cost and that over time these channels will support the factory store format in delivering sustainable growth and profitability.
“I am confident with the operational actions now being undertaken and new personnel joining to deliver the change we need, we have a programme in place that will, over time, restore shareholder value.”
