Sales hit £3.8bn at Liverpool retailer Home Bargains with owners the Morris family receiving dividends of £36m, adding to their estimated £6bn fortune. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool-based value retailer Home Bargains is reporting a 10% rise in sales to £3.8bn with pre-tax profits up 13% to more than £332m.
On Tuesday TJ Morris, the owner of the Home Bargains brand, published its annual results for the year to June 30, 2023, on Companies House. TJ Morris is owned by the Morris family, headed by founder Tom Morris.
Thanks to the increase in sales and profits the family will share dividends totalling £36m, up from £30.5m last year. This will add to their considerable fortune which is estimated at more than £6bn.
These latest accounts also show directors of the business were paid a total of £15.6m in salaries and pension contributions. The highest paid director received £13.7m.
Tom Morris opened the first Home Bargains store in Old Swan in Liverpool in 1976. As of June 30, 2023, the company was operating 594 stores across the UK, up from 572 in the previous year. It employs more than 27,000 people.
Home Bargains’ headquarters and main distribution depot is based in Gillmoss in north Liverpool. Across the city in Speke in South Liverpool, sits the headquarters of B&M, its main rival in the value retail sector.
B&M is a bigger beast. It has more than 700 UK B&M outlets and 119 B&M stores in France. It also runs 315 Heron frozen food stores in the UK. It employs around 39,000 people and its annual sales are around £5bn.
TJ Morris has ambitions to significantly increase the number of Home Bargains stores in the UK with a long-term target of between 800 and 1,000 outlets.
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In its annual report TJ Morris said: “This (the increase in sales) was achieved by the opening of additional retails outlets during the year, shop re-sites and an increased contribution from existing stores.
“The balance sheets show the company’s financial position has strengthened compared to the prior year in terms of net assets.
“Further additions to the retail outlets are planned during the year to June 30, 2024, which should lead to further growth in turnover and profitability.”