Confidence returning, says upbeat Booths

The food and drink retailer yesterday announced that like-for-like sales over the 12 trading days of Christmas and the New Year were up 2.5 per cent on the previous year.

The Lancashire business, which has 26 stores, said actual sales were up 8.4 per cent.

Chris Dee, the trading director, said: "Consumer confidence is definitely returning."

He added: "People who have kept their jobs are now looking to spend a bit more. Mortgage rates continue to remain low."

Booths saw evidence of the increased confidence in the build up to the festive season with increased sales in premium categories and beer, wine and spirits.

It also saw record sales of turkeys and roast meats following its first year offering an on-line pre-order service for fresh roasting meat and poultry.

Booths launched a thousand product cuts earlier this week, although Mr Dee stressed January is a traditional time for supermarkets to unveil discounts.

He said Booths is "fairly optimistic" about 2010, adding: "We have the World Cup in the summer and we are hoping that will generate and stimulate demand, particularly for licensed goods and ready meals."

The chain, which was founded 160 years ago, has three stores in Yorkshire, in Ripon, Settle and Ilkley. It has 10 new stores in the pipeline, including its first urban store planned for the Media City development in Salford.

"We will continue to open stores," said Mr Dee, who is from York. "We continue to look for opportunities in Yorkshire."

The family-owned company, which turned over 253m last year, will continue to focus on high quality products backed up with high quality service, while making sure it competes with the big four on prices for products like cornflakes, he added.