Scotmid Co-op saw its turnover increase by £24m to £409m during the year to 30 January 2021, with trading profit growing from £5.6m to £6.4m.
John Brodie, Chief Executive of Scotmid Co-op said: “This was a year dominated by the pandemic and the significant but varying impact it has had on our different businesses.
“Changes in consumer behaviour during the pandemic resulted in an increase in local essential shopping in Scotmid’s food convenience stores. Customers visited less frequently, spent more each visit but the costs of operation were significantly more than usual.”
Earlier this month, Scotmid revealed that its health & beauty chain Semichem was planning to close up to 22 of its 86 stores operating across Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north east of England due to the tough trading conditions on the high street.
Brodie said: “Like many other non-food retailers, Semichem was significantly impacted by the pandemic due to low footfall on high streets and a long period of closure in the first wave.”
He outlined that financially, the society had experienced a tougher second half to the year due to an increasing cost burden, but added: “With the benefit of our diverse set of businesses, backed up by government support, we have successfully co-operated together across all levels in the Society to deliver a strong year-end result.”
Looking ahead, Brodie said: “We still face considerable planning uncertainty surrounding the timing of the end of the crisis and the likely post-pandemic impact. Therefore, with our continuous improvement mind-set, we will continue to adopt a flexible approach and focus on matters under our control to deliver our core purpose of serving our communities and improving people’s everyday lives.”
