The directors of home shopping group Ideal Shopping Direct have pledged to restore the retailer to profitability after a turbulent year.
Ideal posted a loss of £4m before exceptional charges of £9.2m in the year to December 28, 2008, when sales fell 2 per cent to £94.7m. The previous year the AIM-listed retailer made a profit of £5.8m.
The retailer reported that it had restructured its board and management, conducted a strategic review, improved customer service and introduced new branded products.
Chairman Paul Wright, one of Ideal’s founders who along with Val Kaye staged a boardroom coup in February to assume the role, said the business had “quickly stabilised” and he was confident of prospects.
Wright said: “We have a real depth of home shopping knowledge and despite previous management problems, we remain a business that is strategically well placed to take advantage of market trends toward a genuine multichannel business in TV shopping and e-commerce.
“Following our evaluation of strategy and direction by the new management team, initiatives are now in place to restore the business to growth and profitability.”
Chief executive Mike Hancox said brands such as Sony, Apple and Ann Harvey are among those to have been introduced and more will debut this year.
Ideal is also testing broadcasts in partnership with high street and catalogue retailers.
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