Lyreco sales improve despite tough market

Newly-published accounts from the Telford-based company show that it overcame controls on spending by clients to deliver a rise in sales and profits last year.

Turnover was up by 0.4 per cent at £229 million – falling slightly short of the £230 million target set out in last year's results – while pre-tax profits were up 11.3 per cent to £14.7 million.

Now it expects to deliver further improvements over the coming year.

Managing director Peter Hradisky said: "Our customers are at the heart of everything that we do and having listened to their feedback we have expanded our product range to offer exciting new product categories including personal protective equipment, hygiene products and print.

"Our mission is to simplify life at work for our customers and we are extremely proud of the consistently outstanding service proposition that we offer to our customers all around the UK from our head office here in Telford, which has led 97 per cent of our customers to say that they would recommend Lyreco."

The company is now reinvesting in its £28 million home at Deer Park Court in Donnington Wood, including by installing one of the UK's largest solar installations on its roof.

Almost 14,000 panels are to be fitted on the top of the 55,000 square metre building, cutting the company's annual energy costs by £50,000, and creating one of the country's five largest factory-based solar installation.

"As well as getting back to sales growth during 2014 we have also worked hard to ensure that our money was spent efficiently and that we reinvested our profits responsibly into new projects such as solar panels for a sustainable future and to provide an excellent and secure working environment for our valued employees," Mr Hradisky said.

The number of people employed by the company reduced from 1,375 to 1,335 during the course of the year, the accounts also revealed.

In a review of the business accompanying its accounts, Lyreco added: "Our profit before tax represents an excellent return during a challenging but gradually improving economic period.

"The company maintained strong controls over its operating expenses and continued to focus on driving efficiences and maximising working capital opportunities.

"During the year the company continued its investment in both of its corporate accounts and field sales divisions, as well as actively pursuing a number of new revenue streams and additional routes to market."

Net assets, meanwhile, fell from £97.8 million to £48 million, after factoring in last year's profit of £9.9 million and a dividend payout.

The company was also issued with a certificate from business information firm Dun & Bradstreet which gave it the highest level of creditworthiness, meaning that financial backers believe the company is at minimum risk of failure.