TJ Morris trades as Home Bargains and has 320 stores

TJ Morris, which trades as Home Bargains with more than 320 stores, is on track to achieve its stated aim of at least 700 stores within five years.

The company posted pre-tax profit up from £110.9m to £124.8m on turnover up from £1.1bn to £1.3bn in the year to the end of June.

Its new £70m, 1m sq ft distribution centre is on schedule to open next September at Solstice Park, in Amesbury, Wiltshire, as well as a 24,000 sq ft retail training facility on the same site.

The new depot, which comes hard on the heels of a new warehouse on the Axis Business Park site in Liverpool, is expected to support 400 new shops and create economies of scale to help keep prices down.

The company said in its strategic report for the financial year that it aimed to continue its current levels of growth “to become the leading sector retailer” in the UK.

It would achieve this by continued expansion of its shops and the new depot as well as continuing to provide customers with “quality products at bargain prices” and offering new retail opportunities to customers.

TJ Morris said the 21% increase in turnover was achieved from the contribution of new shops opened during the year, re-sites and like-for-like growth.

It said it would have about 400 shops by the end of the current financial year.