TV campaign featuring  David Seaman provides boost for Safestyle UK

The statement added: "Despite these headwinds, the board decided to persevere with its investment plans in the interests of building sustainable profits in the medium-term; these included getting the brand back on TV, a training programme for installation colleagues, IT development and an online trading brand. The board expects these investments to start to make a difference in 2023 but to be more obvious in later years.”

The group delivered revenue growth of 7.7 per cent to £154.3m over 2021, which it said was driven by pricing responses to the inflationary environment.

Rob Neale, the company’s CEO, said Safestyle, employs around 1,000 of its 2,000 staff in Yorkshire, and he described the county as the company’s heartland. He said he was investing in the future of the “very resilient” business. Safestyle returned to TV advertising in February 2022 with a second wave beginning in August 2022. It featured a new, modernised ‘Safestyle Saves’ brand proposition fronted by Mr Seaman and Mr Neale said he was very pleased with the campaign’s results.

Mr Neale added: “2022 was a challenging year for our business. We were forced to deal with a number unforeseeable issues which impacted our financial results and slowed the momentum we had built up through 2021. The most pleasing aspect of 2022 was the resilience our business showed to meet these challenges head on and simultaneously embark upon a significant strategic investment agenda which will set the foundations in place for our business to grow over the medium term. During the first quarter of this financial year, we have seen variable trading patterns which reflect the difficult consumer environment across the wider economy. Whilst mindful of these conditions, the board remains focused on increasing our market share by continuing to invest behind our strategic agenda.

"However, it is important to note that much of this investment is variable and the board will use the levers available to it should market conditions dictate more prudence.

"Consequently, we now expect full year underlying profit to be at least £2.0m. Notwithstanding this, we remain excited about the future of Safestyle and believe that appropriate investments made now will set us up well for growth when consumer confidence returns.”

Analysts at Zeus said: “With it firmly in the rear-view mirror, FY22 (full year 2022) was somewhat of an annus horribilis for Safestyle. FY23 will see an improvement back to profitability but with pressure on consumers’ discretionary spending, higher interest cost, overall slower economic growth, and continued investment into the business, FY23 profitability is expected to be below our current estimate.”