Tiso banks £1.2m profit following cost squeeze to reverse loss

GRAHAM Tiso, the Edinburgh-based outdoor clothing and equipment retailer, climbed back into the black last year after driving down expenses and improving efficiencies in its supply chain.

The group banked a pre-tax profit of 1.2?million in the year to 31 January, swinging back from a 100,000 loss in 2008, new figures reveal.

Turnover dipped from 27.4m to 27m, but strong cash flow helped it pay down bank loans and overdrafts by 1.6m, taking borrowing to 5.9m. Chief executive Chris Tiso - who took over in 1992 following the death of his father, Graham, who founded the chain in 1962 - said reducing the debt had created "substantial headroom for selective store expansion".

He said the firm would open a flagship store on the edge of Perth later this year and would move to bigger premises in Aberdeen in spring.

It now has 19 stores, including 14 under the Graham Tiso brand, four Alpine Bikes shops and George Fisher, an outdoors store at Keswick, in the Lake District, which it acquired in 2007.

Tiso said: "This has been a strong performance for the group, despite challenging trading conditions.

"We have made a positive start to the new financial year although trading is proving to be volatile and we believe the overall retail environment will remain challenging."