Harry Ramsden’s, the iconic fish & chip shop chain, has reported strong festive trading with like-for-like sales up 7.3% in the five weeks to 4 January, and said that its objective for 2015 was “ambitious growth”.
The group, which last year said it had agreements in place to open 140 sites over the next 10 years, said that its year-end like-for-like sales were also ahead of expectations, with an overall sales increase of 9.7% on the previous year.
Chief executive Joe Teixeira said he believed the figures demonstrated customers’ increasing loyalty and growing engagement with the revitalised brand.
He said: “Throughout 2014, we invested heavily in our people, our product offering and our estate to enhance the proposition. Clearly, our strategy has been well-received by both new and existing customers as is reflected in figures. Now that the business is in a much stronger position, our objective for 2015 is ambitious growth through our three core strands – namely, company-owned outlets, franchising and product licensing, both here in the UK and internationally.”
