Barker and Stonehouse profits fall as cost-of-living crisis curbs shoppers' spending

Upmarket North East furniture business Barker and Stonehouse saw turnover and profits tumble in a “difficult” year as the cost-of-living crisis curbed customers’ spending power, new accounts reveal.

The luxury furniture and furnishings company, based in Teesside Retail Park in Stockton with 18 stores and franchises across the UK, has published accounts which show turnover dropped 17% from £94.8m to £78.4m in the year ended March 31 2024.

Pre-tax profit also fell, from £3.03m to £703,000, while operating profit fell from £3.4m to £913,000.

Despite the fall in profits, the directors said they continued to invest. At the start of the financial year the firm also saw the opening of its £5m store at the Metro Retail Park in Gateshead, in a special event by actress Joanna Lumley.

A report within the accounts says that the company had 376 full time equivalent employees at the year end, down from 437.

The report, signed off by finance director Peter Soakell, outlines how the company’s performance was affected by rising costs, and also details the firm’s closure of its Newcastle store, paving the way for the expansion of its franchise within Fenwick’s flagship department store in the city centre.

It said: “Turnover decreased by 17.3% as the full effect of post Covid tapering, the ‘cost-of-living crisis’, and subsequent rise in interest rates resulted in a significant reduction in disposable incomes. Profit before tax decreased to £0.7m due to the significant drop in turnover reflecting the difficult trading conditions.

“Cash at the year-end was £3.1 down from £6.8m the previous year as the company continued to invest in fixed assets. The company opened its new standalone freehold store at the Metrocentre in Gateshead in April 2023. A new website went live in October 2022 and is now trading well.

“In July 2024 the company sold its Newcastle city centre store for over £5m, being a profit of over £3m. The company then further consolidated its business arrangement with Fenwick Ltd and doubled the floorspace at Fenwick Newcastle in the autumn of 2024. The company is trading profitably since the year end with an increased turnover and gross margin.”

The accounts also include Barker and Stonehouse’s continuing efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, adding how it has has constantly invested in a carbon and energy reduction programme over the last 16 years. It reduces packaging wherever possible and recycles over 90% of the packaging that it does use. T

his year will see the business acquire its first hydrogen powered commercial vehicle, amid plans to rollout the vehicles across the company.

It added: “The company is one of the founding partners in an Indonesian reforestation project, Trees4Trees, started over 15 years ago.

The programme works with universities, farmers, and landowners to ensure a virtuous circle of education, commerce, and community benefits. To date the company has planted over three million trees helping over 23,000 families to build a better life for themselves by earning a sustainable income and understanding the part they play in environmental stewardship. The project is estimated to have captured over half a million tonnes of carbon from the earth’s atmosphere.”