Halfords gets sales boost after garages makeover and e-bikes push

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Halfords has revealed its sales grew over the past year as the retailer modernised its garages and tapped into demand for e-bikes.

The motoring and cycling retailer said revenues totalled £1.8 billion in the year to April 3, up 4.8% compared like-for-like with the previous year.

This was driven by a 4.1% uplift in retail sales and 5.8% jump in sales for its autocentres.

Halfords said its consumer garages business – which includes car repairs and MOTs – had been boosted by the opening of dozens of Fusion garages, which integrate retail and garages together.

Halfords said trading had continued to be strong in the past few months (Alamy/PA)

It has opened more than 100 of these garages and is aiming for another 35 this year.

The firm has been taking steps to make its workforce more efficient and reducing labour costs in the face of higher wages and national insurance increases, including redeploying staff to busier garages and reducing reliance on more expensive agency workers.

It also flagged efforts to modernise the network by bringing in specialist EV servicing equipment into most sites and is planning to give staff tablets to support vehicle inspections.

In the retail business, which sells products including bikes and car parts, Halfords said sales grew despite a subdued consumer environment.

It said a highlight within its cycling segment was e-bikes, with plans to significantly expand its range including mountain and hybrid e-bikes as demand grows.

Halfords said trading had continued to be strong in the past few months and that it had not seen any change to customer behaviour stemming from the Iran war, although it was “sensitive” to any impact on spending which could show up in the months ahead.

The company revealed it returned to a pre-tax profit of £43.6 million for the year, from a £30 million loss the year before.