Following its positive sales growth in the first half of the year, Wickes CEO David Wood has said the company is “well positioned for the future”, even despite the current market headwinds.
As previously reported, in the first half of 2025, Wickes saw a 5.6% uplift in year-on-year group revenue, with like-for-like sales rising by 6.4%. Big ticket design & installation revenue was also up by more than 2.1%.
In a new interim report published today, Wood commented: “Wickes has delivered a strong first half, with volume growth across the Group. I would like to thank all of my colleagues for their continued hard work and dedication, providing outstanding customer service and helping the nation feel house proud.
“In Retail, we have achieved record market share growth and have prioritised convenience, choice and speed, helping grow TradePro sales by a further 10%. With DIY, our focus on broadening appeal and innovating in strategic categories has seen more customers choose Wickes to bring their home improvement projects to life. In Design & Installation, the actions we undertook to enhance the customer experience have seen us return to like-for like sales growth, ahead of the wider market for big ticket items.”
Last year, Wickes announced plans to reduce its number of kitchen and bathroom advisors, while also increasing its number of design consultant roles. As a result, almost 500 members of Wickes staff were said to have been consulted about their roles, with up to 200 roles being cut.
In today’s interim update, Wood concluded: “Our proven strategy is working. Whilst we remain mindful of the cost headwinds facing the sector as a whole, continued investment in our growth levers and digital initiatives means we are well positioned for the future and remain comfortable with market expectations for the full year.”
Wickes also said it had opened one new store this year in a former Homebase site, and had also completed four refurbishments of existing stores. It also commented it had made “good progress” on plans to open between five and seven new stores before the end of the year, along with refurbishing between 10 and 15 existing stores.
Although not an official announcement into its Q3 results, Wickes said that trading in the period has been in line with expectations so far, but that “the phasing of increased people costs and new stores” will impact more fully in the second half of the year.