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UK outdoor clothing retailer Mountain Warehouse has posted record profits for the year to 28 February 2017, marking 20 years of uninterrupted growth. The group reported sales up 30.8% £184.4m and pre-tax profits up 22pc to £19.8m from £16.2m last year.
Mountain Warehouse opened 41 new stores this year, bringing the total up to 262 from its first shop in Swindon. Its UK openings in the past year included stores in Winchester, York, Chester, Oban in Argyll and Bute, Fowey in Cornwall, Oakham in the Midlands, Salisbury and Sherborne.
It has plans for 40 more outlets, getting closer to its plans for a 300-strong UK store portfolio.
Overseas expansion is a significant part of the business’ growth strategy; international sales doubled and accounted for a quarter of revenue last year, with 70 international outlets. Overseas expansion will include North America, Poland, Czech Republic and Germany. Online sales accounted for 25% of overall sales.
Mountain Warehouse recently entered the "athleisure" market with its workout gear store Zakti, launched in 2015. There are currently four Zakti outlets with plans to open more this year, including an outlet in Swindon, where Mountain Warehouse started. Diversification into running and cycling products as well as children’s summer clothes has proved successful.
Mountain Warehouse founder and chief executive Mark Neale said: “We started with a single shop in 1997 and, 10 years later in 2007, we had around 40 stores with sales of about £20m. “The downturn in 2008 allowed us to start growing really quickly when stores became easier to find and customers were looking for fantastic value. We passed 100 stores in 2010 and have been on a steep climb since then, with online and international playing a bigger and bigger part in the business.”
This successful retailer would certainly be an attractive proposition, should founder, Mark Neale, ever decide
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