The Range triples profit to £145m on back of Covid trading
UK Homewares group The Range saw sales increase by £352m during the worst of the Covid pandemic after stores remained open as “essential retail”.
The climb in earnings to £1.35bn in 2020 led to after-tax profits for the Plymouth-headquartered company jumping to £145m – more than three times the £47m profit made the previous year.
The newly filed accounts for Norton Group Holdings Ltd, the holding company which includes The Range, revealed that the year to the end of January 2021 presented “unprecedented challenges” for the company due to the Covid crisis.
Founder Chris Dawson said: “Due to the broad range of products sold in store, customers were able to pick up all of their essential items in a single visit, this was especially appealing during a pandemic where people had restrictions place upon them and were also conscious of the need to social distance and minimise unnecessary trips.”
But when the business was designated, somewhat controversially at the time as an essential retailer, it made hay during three lockdowns.
The performance is likely to reignite calls for its billionaire owner to return the almost £50m it received in government business rates relief during the pandemic.
The Range opened five stores in FY 2020/21, creating over 1700 new jobs and the business expects to create a further 2700 jobs this year.
