Carpetright has laid out medium term growth plans which will include acquisitions in a year’s time.

The retailer’s chairman Lord Harris has said that in a year Carpetright could be in a position to look at buying another business with Topps Tiles citied as one acquisition target.

Harris said that after 12 months of consolidation and debt reduction it could be in a strong acquisitive position. “There are quite a few things we have on the back burner,” he told the Financial Times.

Carpetright currently has£87.8 million of debt in November which the company hopes to reduce by£20 million by the end of the year.

Last month Carpetright issued a profit warning and Harris described conditions as the worst he has seen in his 50 years of retailing.

Its main rival Allied Carpets has also been put up for sale by its French owners who want to find an exit from the tough conditions on the UK high street.