Two years after its move from its long-time home in London Road to Church Street, iconic Liverpool retailer TJ Hughes says it is keen to open more stores across the UK despite a fall in annual sales. Tony McDonough reports

Annual sales and profits are down at iconic Liverpool retailer TJ Hughes but director and saviour of the once-stricken brand Anil Juneja is keen to keep expanding.

In 2023, TJs relocated its flagship Liverpool store from London Road, where it had operated for more than a century, into the 70,000 former H&M store in Church Street in the heart of the city’s retail district.

Two years on the company has just published its annual accounts for the 12 months to December 31, 2024, on Companies House. They show sales of £25.7m, lower than the £26.6m reported for 2023. Pre-tax profits also fell from £139,294 to just £50,751.

However, writing in the annual report Anil struck an upbeat note. He said: “The results for the year have been encouraging after the difficulties of recent years which were affected by the pandemic, as the company returned to profitability and improved levels of trade.”

Anil was credited with saving TJ Hughes when it collapsed into administration in 2011. At that point it was a national chain trading from 57 locations.

He swooped in to prevent the famous name disappearing for good. He relaunched the business from just six outlets. He has since grown this to 16, opening two new stores in 2024. They stretch from Scotland down to Maidstone in the South East of England.

Many of the goods TJs sells in its stores are manufactured in the Far East and transported to the UK via container ships. This has allowed TJs, which employs around 370 people, to keep costs down and offer low prices to customers.

It also controls another famous Liverpool retail name – Lewis’s. First opening in 1856, Lewis’s traded from a grand department store on the corner of Ranelagh Street with its famously ‘rude’ Dickie Lewis statue.

Dickie and the building remain standing but, sadly, the store itself closed in 2010. Its name lives on in TJ Hughes as a range of kitchen and homeware products.

Speaking of his growth ambitions, Anil added: “During the year new stores were opened and we continue to look for opportunities to continue to develop the retail estate and serve a broader geographical reach.”

He also addressed geopolitical matters which could affect TJs’ fortunes. He explained: “In the early part of 2024 there was significant disruption to trade passing through the Suez Canal with freight rates rising rapidly.

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“But this seems to have stabilised recently, though there are increased geopolitical tensions and conflicts in the Middle East that could impact trade routes in the coming year.

“A combination of the company’s portfolio of diverse market leading brands, along with the control of costs and an enthusiastic dedicated workforce, lead the board to view the company’s future performance to be secure.”