ScS posts strong year

Soft furnishings and flooring retailer ScS has posted its results for the 53 weeks ended July 31 2021, with operating profit up  from £700,000 to £26.8m, and profit of £22.7m, on total revenues of £310.6m.

Online sales had risen by 146 per cent to £46.9m, following continued investment in its digital business and helping to offset periods of lockdown which affected its 100 stores. The business repaid £3m it had claimed in furlough grants from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme during the year, following buoyant trading as its stores re-opened. The business is now embarking on a three year growth strategy spanning all areas including new range development. New stores are also being considered along with relocations.

New CEO Steve Carson said: “What a year to join a business. We were closed for a third of the year and it’s been a real team effort. Our colleagues have been wonderful as have our suppliers, the landlords and third parties. We’re really pleased with such a strong set of results. Our stores are the backbone of the business. We’ve got 100 stores up and down the country and we’re going to be looking at what is the right number of stores and should we add some more stores. There are a number of populations of more than 100,000 where we don’t have a store, so we’re going to step into that carefully and thoughtfully and see if there’s an opportunity to add to the estate.

“Knowing you want to be in a location and getting the right store, store size, on the right retail park, at the right rent with the right team to deliver an appropriate ROI, there’s a lot to get right on that journey. Right now this is just something we’re going to properly look at but I know there’s opportunities still in our heartland and we’re underpenetrated in the South of England and we have no stores in Northern Ireland.

I don’t know what the number will be, but I suspect the next time we speak we’ll have a better understanding of what that number will look like.

“We are delighted with the strong orders performance since the start of the new financial year. However, we are cognisant of the ongoing challenges we, and many other businesses, are facing with regards to the supply chain, including driver shortages, raw material increases and shipping costs and delays. We have demonstrated throughout the pandemic that we have a flexible and resilient business model which is able to adapt to changes in the macro-environment whilst still delivering for our customers. We look forward to embedding the new purpose and mission statement into our operations and delivering on our refreshed strategy for future growth which we are setting out today.”