Collection service sees sales boost at Booths

Booths, which has stores in Ilkley, Settle and Ripon, saw its Christmas profits growing ahead of sales, 4.5 per cent up on the level seen in 2017.

During the seven days of Christmas week, gross sales were at £10,245,693, up 2 per cent on 2017.

Chairman and chief executive Edwin Booth, said: “Booths performed very well in a highly competitive market over Christmas. We focussed on offering the very best traditional Christmas food and drink with flair and purpose.

“Customers trust Booths for quality, service, knowledge and our commitment to find the very best suppliers. I’m delighted with our Christmas performance and the positive momentum that we are achieving throughout the business.”

Much of the increase was driven by growth in the click & collect service which delivered 15 per cent growth and a 25 per cent uplift in sales over the New Year period.

Traditional Christmas favourites showed the strongest performance with record sales for turkey and trimmings recording an increase of 10 per cent. Booths smoked salmon sales were up nearly 25 per cent and Booths gammon up 25 per cent.

Elsewhere, demand for craft beers and spirits were on trend with Booths selling 65,000 bottles of gin and 500,000 bottles of ale and lager. Sales of low alcohol wine increased by 35 per cent, supporting evidence that moderation is a trend that is gaining momentum in the market.

“Great credit goes to the teams who worked tirelessly throughout the year to deliver the very best service, range and value for our Booths customers, both in our Northern heartland and beyond,” said Mr Booth.