A Kidderminster carpet manufacturer has announced increased sales and said that it is remaining hopeful for the future despite recent boardroom turmoil.
The promising news came from Victoria, the long-standing carpet company which made the red carpet for last year’s Royal Wedding, after it completed an in-depth strategic review.
In the three months up to the end of June it saw a 7.2% increase of sales and said that any decrease in residential sales had been balanced out by the rise in contract and export markets.
Sales in the insurance replacement market were up year on year, with this part of their business set to grow as insurance claims due to the heavy rain and floods in the spring start to trickle through.
The group have been encouraged by a positive reaction to its new luxury vinyl tile portfolio which is being rolled out into its contract market.
Victoria said it expected its full year results to be in line with expectation, but more heavily weighted in the second half of the year. Victoria manufacture carpets in the UK and Australia and despite the UK growth, it has seen a decline in its sales down under.
Alan Bullock group managing director at Victoria remained positive that the UK market would be strong enough to hold firm against the current economic storm and said that it may look more towards a distribution model in the future.
He said: “Despite the extremely tough market conditions we have managed to grow our sales on a like for like basis in the UK. There is a great future for this company. It is proving in difficult times to continue to grow, we have a really great brand and we are well respected in the UK and Australia. Hopefully we will still be making carpets in another 117 years.”
The carpet manufacturer also attracted attention after three non-executive directors resigned earlier this month. Alexander Anton, Geoff Wilding and Sir Bryan Nicholson joined the company in March and they resigned from the board when Victoria allegedly rejected their proposed new bonus scheme.
