Waitrose boss eyes £10bn in sales

Managing director Mark Price said that he wants to take sales from 5bn now to 10bn and increase market share from 4.3 per cent to around eight per cent.

He plans to concentrate on store openings, as well as building on initiatives such as Waitrose's partnership with health and beauty chain Boots and the roll out of new products, including its Duchy Originals by Waitrose range.

Waitrose - the grocery arm of the John Lewis Partnership - is expected to open its first smaller convenience store format within the next two months.

Mr Price said he expects the chain to end 2010 as the fastest growing supermarket for the second year running.

He added: "The economy will give us nothing this year and there will be no easy wins, but our plans are well developed and we're confident."

Waitrose maintained its recent strong performance with an 11.7 per cent rise in sales to 88.9m for the week to last Saturday.

The department store division of the John Lewis Partnership saw sales rise 14.8 per cent to 50.4m as 21 branches improved sales on a year earlier.

Waitrose revealed this week that chefs Delia Smith and Heston Blumenthal will act as food ambassadors for the brand, as well as appear in the grocer's new advertising.

In its first personality-led marketing campaign, they will share their expertise and champion certain ingredients.

Waitrose wants to open a mix of 10 larger and smaller convenience stores this year and 30 next year. The Boots deal will mean Waitrose provides a lunchtime offer in Boots stores, while four Waitrose shop-in-shops will be tested in larger Boots.

The business is also expected to target further international growth after recently opening two shops in Dubai. Mr Price believes there is potential for 23 stores in Arab countries.

Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "Even allowing for the fact that John Lewis has been outperforming the sector as a whole, this robust performance boosts hopes that retail sales bounced back appreciably in February after being hit hard in January by the very bad weather."

Waitrose said the renewed popularity of afternoon tea drove a 28 per cent uplift in sales of large cakes and a 37 per cent rise in smaller cakes.