Leading lights defy a year of gloom

Yorkshire is home to some of Britain’s biggest retailers, who have outshone many of their rivals.

For instance, supermarket Morrisons is to create more than 7,000 jobs next year as it continues its store expansion programme, as well as developing its manufacturing and logistics arms.

In November the Bradford-based company reported a 2.4 per cent increase in like-for-like sales during the 13 weeks to October 30 after attracting record numbers of customers to its stores.

Rival Asda, based in Leeds, said like-for-like sales, excluding VAT and fuel, rose by 1.3 per cent between July 1 and September 30.

This beats its 0.1 per cent growth in the first three months of the year and 0.5 per cent growth in the second three months.

Asda’s most recent performance beats both Sainsbury’s 1.0 per cent rise for the 16 weeks to October 1 and Tesco’s 0.7 per cent decline in the 13 weeks to August 27.

It has also benefited from its purchase of 147 smaller format Netto stores, bringing its store total to 528.

In October natural chemicals company Croda International, based in Goole, reported a big jump in third-quarter profits following a strong performance at its consumer care business. It expects further progress in the current quarter and into next year.

The FTSE 250 company is also two steps away from entering the FTSE-100, after the London Stock Exchange updated its reserve list.

Logistics is also an area of growth for some companies.

Earlier this month Leeds-based logistic service firm Clipper Group reported six-month revenues of £91.5m, an increase of 13 per cent on the same period last year.

The Clipper Group was founded by entrepreneur Steve Parkin in 1992 with one van delivering clothing for fashion stores. It has grown rapidly in recent years through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions.

For another logistics company, rapid expansion in the Far East is expected to drive a 30 per cent increase in turnover over the next year. Goole-based GXD, which handles import and export work for clients throughout the UK, has seen exports to China, particularly household products, increase in recent months.

In November house builders Persimmon reported a 35 per cent leap in first-time buyers as it reaps the benefits of the Government’s new FirstBuy scheme.

Persimmon was awarded the largest FirstBuy allocation of any house builder, which means it has more than 2,000 new homes available to buy.

The York-based builders received the award of Board of the Year at the recent Variety Club’s Yorkshire Business Awards. The company is now virtually debt-free, having brought borrowings down from a peak of £1.2bn in 2008.

At a time of financial crisis, many people are turning to mutuals.

Yorkshire Building Society, now the UK’s second-biggest building society after a series of deals with smaller mutuals since the financial crisis struck, last month announced plans to recruit another 120 people at its Bradford base.

The Yorkshire has 224 branches and 90 agencies, assets of £33bn, more than 3,800 staff and 3.5 million members.

This summer it reported a surge in half-year profits and a doubling of mortgage lending, and said it is well-placed to grow amid a tough market.

You don’t have to look far to see pockets of light in the gloom.