Bonmarché set for year of change as pre-tax profits slide
FOLLOWING a series of high profile administrations on the high street in the form of the Austin Reed and BHS wind downs, more traditional bricks and mortar retailers have been viewed with a careful eye.
Wakefield-based Bonmarché is no exception, and has also been affected by difficult trading conditions on the high street.
Though total revenue was up 5.3% to £188.0m for the 53 weeks to 26 March 2015, pre-tax profits dipped to £9.6m. This was a decrease of 22.9% on the year before.
The company said that whilst it had invested in 20 new locations, contributing £4.7m in sales, trading conditions had been challenging due to seasonal difficulties and a lack of footfall in winter and spring. Growth in online sales, to 7.3% of revenue, was called “disappointing” by the business.
Mark McClennon, currently global vice president for IT at Unilever joined the business as an independent non-executive director on 8 April 2016, but chief executive Beth Butterwick will be leaving later in the year, to be replaced by Helen Connolly
She commented “This is my final Annual Report at Bonmarché, and I am confident that I will leave the business with a robust modernisation plan and a depth of experience and expertise within the business to execute it over the coming years.
“Bonmarché’s performance for the year has been achieved amidst the difficult trading conditions widely reported across the retail sector.
“We have emerged from this period with a clear focus on our five key strategic pillars for growth. With significant improvements for the benefits of our customer, we are focused on driving our modernisation plan over the coming year.
We firmly believe that with its unique position as a niche retailer, focused on catering for the mature female demographic, Bonmarché is well placed for the future.”
Ms Butterwick will be moving to the top role at Karen Millen. Ms Connolly has been working as a senior buyer for George at Asda.
