Instore has revealed a fall in like-for-like sales and that its chief executive will step down.

The announcement follows yesterday's news that Seaham Investments now owns a 51 per cent stake in Instore.

Today, Instore said that chief executive Peter Burdon will step down in July 2009.

The retailer said that, since announcing its results at the end of April, it had made a loss and like-for-like sales have suffered.

Instore said that market conditions had deteriorated during the 19 weeks to July 11. Group sales climbed 0.3 per cent on last year, but like-for-likes fell 1.9 per cent.

In a statement, Instore said: “While we endeavour to expand our range of everyday consumer products to help drive regular footfall, the poor weather which adversely affected sales in the first two months of the year continues to have a marked impact on sales of our seasonal ranges.

“Management continues to maintain a tight reign on costs which has partially mitigated the sales performance but the company has continued to trade at a loss – although shareholders will know that the company has historically reported a loss during for the first half of the year.”

It added that it remained confident in the longer-term outlook for the company.

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