Home Bargains shed 1,590 retail staff in its latest full financial year – 6% of shopworkers – while growing its estate by 22 stores to 594.
Accounts for the 12 months ended 30 June 2023 – in which Home Bargains snapped up smaller discount chain Quality Save – show the group employed an average 23,830 retail staff during the period, down from 25,420 the previous year.
Meanwhile, the estate grew from 572 to 594 stores, helping boost turnover by 10.2% to £3.8bn. Operating profit climbed 12.4% to £324m.
Dividends of £36m were paid to equity shareholders, compared with £30.5m the previous year.
The accounts attribute the increase in turnover to “the opening of additional retail outlets during the year, shop re-sites and an increased contribution from existing stores”.
TJ Morris, which trades as Home Bargains, acquired Quality Save in January 2023 and converted the smaller chain’s 21 stores across the north of England to the Home Bargains fascia.
The accounts include employee numbers at both group and company level, with the company seeing a sharper decline in retail staff than the group. In the financial year ending in 2022 the company had 25,420 shopworkers – the same as the group – but the following year the number fell by 1,807 – or 7% – to 23,613.
The total number of employees at the group, including administrative and warehouse staff, fell from 28,401 to 26,845, a drop of 1,556.
The accounts also reiterate a long-term target, set out in previous year’s accounts, to “eventually have between 800 and 1,000 retail outlets open”.
The retailer did not provide a comment.
In July last year, Home Bargains introduced bakeries, adding them to 64 stores ahead of a planned rollout to 20 more over the following 12 months.
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