UK grocery retailer Waitrose has announced that its ended its 2010 financial year by recording €5.8bn (£5bn) in annual sales for the first time, with a 6.4 per cent increase in total sales during the last week of January helping the firm reach the milestone figure.
The record sales number for the supermarket operator, which runs 243 stores across the UK, represents total growth of almost 10 per cent for the 12 months to 1 February 2011 compared with the same period a year before.
The retailer, which is owned by department store operator John Lewis, also increased its share of the UK grocery market from 0.3 per cent to 4.4 per cent during the year, according to Kantor Worldpanel data.
In a statement, Waitrose said the growth had been driven by “investment and innovation”, citing the success of a high profile marketing campaign and the launch last September of Brand Price Match – an initiative aimed at matching Tesco’s prices on 1,000 products.
Mark Price, managing director of Waitrose, said: “Five billion is a fitting finale to a year of growth and consistent outperformance of our industry.
“Achieving this milestone is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the 44,000 partners who work at Waitrose.”
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