Dunelm’s new chief executive Nick Wharton will focus on store roll-outs and multichannel operations as he seeks to further grow the business.

Wharton, formerly Halfords finance director, replaced Will Adderley at the value homewares retailer last week and said he wants to improve Dunelm’s online operations, customer interaction and brand awareness. Adderley retains a full-time role as deputy chairman.

Dunelm will open a warehouse for its online operations in the summer in Manchester and will improve stock availability for its existing reserve-and-collect service this year.

In the 26 weeks to January 1, Dunelm’s pre-tax profit rose 5% to £48.5m, while revenue climbed 8.5% to £275.7m. Like-for-likes fell 1.2% as snow hit sales.

Wharton said: “We’re keeping the momentum going and driving the top line, and new stores is the engine for that.

“In multichannel I’ll be using my experience, and there’s work to do on interacting with customers. I also want to create better brand awareness.”

Wharton said Dunelm has upped prices in the face of rising costs, but insisted it would stay competitive.

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