Independent retailer Harry Tuffins has insisted it will push ahead with its Montgomeryshire Natural Water Company business despite a "difficult year".
Accounts filed at Companies House this week for the year to 31 January revealed poor weather had reduced demand. The operation bottles water for independent supermarkets, buying groups and wholesalers.
"We will most definitely keep it going because we have invested more than £10m in a state-of-the-art bottling plant over the last five years," said MD Paul Delves. "The next two or three years will be OK, providing the weather improves. But ultimately we can withstand weather downturns - standalone drink firms can't."
Sales at Harry Tuffins rose 13% to £48.4m, with Montgomeryshire accounting for about £6m of sales.
Harry Tuffins has six stores in Wales, Shropshire and Worcestershire. Store sales were up 19%, partly due to a full year's trading from two stores that opened at the end of 2006. Pre-tax profit fell 3.2% to £1.07m because of a £150,000 pension fund contribution.
Further stores were planned to open in 2009, Delves added. "We have just bought a site in Machynlleth, which we will develop early next year into a 5,000-plus sq ft store, co-branded with Nisa-Today's," he said. "It's a good site. Tesco is coming to town, but we are sure we can make our store pay." A second site was close to being purchased, he added.
In October, Delves revealed sales had remained strong in 2008 with like-for-like sales up 5.5% in the six months to 10 August.
Accounts filed at Companies House this week for the year to 31 January revealed poor weather had reduced demand. The operation bottles water for independent supermarkets, buying groups and wholesalers.
"We will most definitely keep it going because we have invested more than £10m in a state-of-the-art bottling plant over the last five years," said MD Paul Delves. "The next two or three years will be OK, providing the weather improves. But ultimately we can withstand weather downturns - standalone drink firms can't."
Sales at Harry Tuffins rose 13% to £48.4m, with Montgomeryshire accounting for about £6m of sales.
Harry Tuffins has six stores in Wales, Shropshire and Worcestershire. Store sales were up 19%, partly due to a full year's trading from two stores that opened at the end of 2006. Pre-tax profit fell 3.2% to £1.07m because of a £150,000 pension fund contribution.
Further stores were planned to open in 2009, Delves added. "We have just bought a site in Machynlleth, which we will develop early next year into a 5,000-plus sq ft store, co-branded with Nisa-Today's," he said. "It's a good site. Tesco is coming to town, but we are sure we can make our store pay." A second site was close to being purchased, he added.
In October, Delves revealed sales had remained strong in 2008 with like-for-like sales up 5.5% in the six months to 10 August.
No comments yet