Dunelm shops at Go-Ahead for finance chief
HOMEWARE group Dunelm has appointed the finance chief of transport group Go-Ahead to take up the same role as it reported better than expected fourth quarter sales.
Keith Down, who joined Go-Ahead four years ago and has also held senior roles at Tesco and JD Wetherspoon, will take over in September, replacing David Stead, who will retire from the board early next year.
The FTSE 250 retailer, which is around 54 per cent owned and founded by the Adderley family, said like-for-like sales grew by 3.5 per cent, thanks to a strong summer sale and growth in its made to measure curtains service.
Home delivery sales for the 13 weeks to 27 June grew by 43.4 per cent and now they account for 6.8 per cent of the business. Total sales were up 12.1 per cent to £200.1m.
As a result, the group expects to report pre-tax profits in the range of £119 to 123m for the year to 27 June.
“With a newly strengthened senior team, a recently upgraded website, a sound pipeline of new stores and an ongoing programme of capital and revenue investments in place, I am confident that we will continue to deliver further growth across all our channels going forward,” chief executive Will Adderley said.
Dunelm currently has 148 out-of-town superstores selling everything from curtains to kitchenware, including four opened in the quarter.
In February, Adderley set out plans to new to work toward its goal of operating 200 stores, with a focus on expanding in the south of England.
The company said it has eight committed of which two are due to open in the next six months.