BHF Shops enjoy record profit as sales rise 3.1%
Howard Lake | 1 May 2012 | News
British Heart Foundation (BHF) Shops have achieved their most profitable year of trading to date, with a profit of over £31 million in 2011-2012. This is an increase of £5 million over the year from 2010 to 2011.
The record breaking year saw like-for-like sales rise by 3.1%.
Nearly half of people shop in charity shops more
BHF Shops, the largest charity retailer, attribute the performance to its expansion plan which saw it grow by 5%, and of course to the current difficult economic climate faced by shoppers. Indeed, research commissioned last month by the charity from Online Market Researchers OnePoll confirms that 44% of people are now shopping in charity shops more than they were a few years ago. Over half (53%) attribute this to the good quality of items they find there at low prices, and 43% believe that charity shops fit their budget at the moment.
However, one in three people (39%) are currently unsure about what to donate to charity shops with two thirds of people (70%) concerned that their items might not be good enough quality.
BHF Retail Director, Mike Lucas, urged the pubic to keep donating items. He said: “After identifying that more people are shopping in charity shops but not necessarily feeling confident about donating, we want to send out a strong message that BHF Shops love the things you bring. Donations are vital to the success of our Stores – we’re keen to receive all saleable donations to help us continue our life saving work”.
The BHF now has over 700 shops and 140 Furniture and Electrical Stores across England, Scotland and Wales.
www.bhf.org.uk/shops
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.