Stokers saw pre-tax profits more than double in the past financial year.
Pre-tax profits jumped from £2.528m to £5.6m in the year to 30 April 2021.
The four store interiors group saw sales increase from £41.6m to £47m, helped by the opening of its £12m 80,000sqft Lucas Furniture store in Aylesbury.
‘During the year the company was forced to close all of its stores on several occasions due to restrictions imposed by the UK Government as a consequence of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. lt was apparent when we re-opened the stores, after each imposed closure, there was significant pent up demand and trade for these periods was significantly above what we would normally expect for those times of the year. This trend has continued as consumers continue to release their excess savings built up during the past 12 months and divert spending away from other expenditure such as overseas holidays. The boom in the housing market and the switch in spending habits to home refurbishments again has helped to fuel this trend,’ it says.
‘The company is however aware that when overseas travel restrictions begin to lift there is likely to be a shift in this consumer spending away from consumer goods to reflect the pent-up demand for holidays and overseas travel. The company is also aware of the uncertain economic outlook. In addition to the issues in the labour market caused by Brexit, the worldwide boom has caused significant issues with supply chains. There are huge supply side pressures with increased costs in wages, shipping and direct input costs. All these will contribute to significant inflationary pressures which will increase prices and dampen consumer demand.
‘The risks of Brexit have still not gone away. lt is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit staff to fill jobs in the operational side of the business and this in part is hindered by the intransigence of the Government to allow EU workers to fill these positions.’
