Carpetright is up off the floor

By PETER RANSCOMBE AND GRAEME EVANS
Published on 25/07/2012 00:20

Floor coverings firm Carpetright offered some comfort on recent trading yesterday after store refits and favourable weather helped boost UK sales.

The group’s profits recently slumped to £4 million from £62m in 2008 but new chief executive Darren Shapland said he was encouraged by growth in UK like-for-like sales of 1.7 per cent for the 12 weeks to 21 July.

He credits the revival on a drive to sell more beds, the extension of laminate ranges to additional stores and the impact of its refurbishment programme, which has now reached 63 of its 486 outlets in the UK.

The UK improvement, which increases to 5.3 per cent when excluding business achieved through insurers and housebuilders, has been offset by a sharp drop in sales in Belgium, Ireland and the Netherlands.