Development programme continues
Garden centre group Blooms of Bressingham's sales leapt 33 per cent to£21.25 million for the year to January 29, with pre-tax profits excluding exceptional items climbed 37.4 per cent to£800,000.

The retailer revealed that sales in the 16 weeks to May 21 were up 17.4 per cent and like-for-like sales for the same period were down 1 per cent.

Chairman Charles Good said that this year sales should increase at a 'more measured rate' but he expects acceleration again when additional space becomes operational.

In January, the company formed Blooms Property Limited Partnership, a 50/50 joint venture with LaSalle Investment Management, to buy and hold some of Blooms' freehold properties.

Good said: 'This has allowed us to step up our site acquisition and development programme, while at the same time significantly reducing bank debt in our trading operations.'

Redevelopment at Blooms' Bicester outlet in Oxfordshire, which will become the largest of its 10 sites, will be completed by spring next year. The retailer has also acquired sites at Worcester and Stevenage that will be redeveloped within the next two years and intends to expand at Cardiff and Solihull.

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