Rent-buy retailer posts big rise in sales

The group, which sells products including laptops, televisions and sofas to customers who pay for them in instalments, posted revenues, including new store openings, of 197.3m in the year to March 31 2010, up from 170.6m the previous year.

Like-for-like revenues went up by 10.7 per cent.

BrightHouse, which has ambitious expansion plans across Yorkshire, now has 205 UK stores, including 21 in the region, and plans to open a further 30 in the current financial year, including three or four in Yorkshire.

Chief executive Leo McKee said: "Yorkshire is a significant market for us. Our of 205 stores 21 are in Yorkshire and we are continuing to expand."

BrightHouse, whose core market is low income families, plans to double its number of Yorkshire stores over the next three to five years by targeting market towns and suburbs. It has pinpointed Pontefract, Selby, Morley, Goole, Rothwell, Skipton, Mexborough, Conisbrough and Brighouse among others.

"I'd like one in York but it's a challenge because the store I need is 2,500 sq ft of retail space and 1,000 sq ft of back office space and it needs vehicle access," said Mr McKee. "A lot of shops in York are small, family-owned retail businesses so to get the right unit somewhere like that is challenging."

The firm opened a large store in the Merrion Centre in Leeds last August, which Mr McKee said was "trading well".

While the World Cup boosted television sales at BrightHouse this summer, Mr McKee said the event did not have as big an impact as it did in 2006.

"It certainly provided a boost to television sales but not on the scale of four years ago," he said. "When you look at the market over the last 12 months I think it has been characterised by uncertainty about the economy, the General Election, tough housing market, and, ahead of the General Election, plenty of doom and gloom and misery in the Press that has affected consumer confidence.

"The furniture sector has had a really tough time throughout last year and the first six months of the current year because customers are showing a marked reluctance to buy large ticket items."

He added: "Shoppers are cautious in the current economic climate but BrightHouse has again delivered improved revenue, profit and customer numbers."

BrightHouse has grown from 141 stores in 2006 to 205 today. In the last financial year, its customer base grew 20 per cent to 175,000. It believes there is a market of 5.2 million households who struggle to access credit and for whom the rent-to-buy option is increasingly attractive. So far it has tapped into a small percentage of that market and says it has the potential to expand the chain over time to as many as 650 stores.

Mr McKee said: "We are a responsible lender, serving families in some of the most socially deprived areas of Britain. We understand their needs and they value the convenience of making weekly payments and the personal relationship they develop with their store manager.

"There continues to be great demand for this proposition and the company's growth prospects are good. Current trading is in line with management expectations and the company anticipates delivering further profitable growth."

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 16 per cent to 34.1m while operating profit grew to 24.8m compared to 23.9m the previous year.

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