Thorntons chief executive Jonathan Hart updates Retail Week on the chocolatier’s turnaround progress after this morning reporting a 2.9% increase in first half sales.

Jonthan Hart

You are about to embark on a rebrand of your products – what is the thinking behind this?

We have got all of our spring season product ready and refreshed. This is the pre-cursor to a more comprehensive range refresh from summer onwards which will bring in a new brand identity to build year-round gifting, range and prices. These will sit under our wider campaign of 101 Reasons to Make Someone Smile. We want to give order and clarity on products. Sub-brand identities have hitherto been quite a kaleidoscope of products in our stores, which are not easy to shop.

How are you progressing in rebuilding your franchise arm after the Clintons administration?

We opened 16 franchise locations in the half - 10 mini-format [in a range of retailers] and six full format. We have a prospective small multiple franchisee [card retailer] who we are still in dialogue with.

Last year you began supplying other retailers with own label products. How is that developing?

We are not planning to supply anyone who sells Thorntons branded products. It is growth from a zero base over the course of last year as we have re-entered this market and grown steadily. Our own flexibility of our manufacturing and our innovation has been well received. Our main focus is still clearly on developing the Thorntons brand and our focus in own label is on profitable growth.

How are you progressing in supplying retailers overseas?

We remain committed to focusing on the UK and fixing the issues we had in the UK, but our early progress has been encouraging. We are not going to get carried away but we have been received well in South Africa, Australia and the UAE.

How are you set for the crucial Mother’s Day and Easter period?

Easter last year was a strong recovery from a weak Easter the year before. We have a strong order book for Easter and have a reasonably good visibility on the orders we should ship to the grocers. We have taken a somewhat more cautious view of the high street but have had positive orders from franchisees. We have strong plans across all our channels and good products.

How will you draw shoppers in in the traditionally quiet summer months?

We use the seasons where we are the focus as evidence for customers to come to us throughout the year for other products rather than just birthdays, Easter and Christmas. We have developed new ranges and a boxed product called Today I Thought of You which are already in stores and they are just going into commercial channels this Spring. They have been designed for year-round gifting under the 101 Reasons to Make Someone Smile campaign.

Are you hitting your turnaround targets?

The market remains very challenging. It’s not a smooth ride. The multichannel nature of our business allows is us to ride out the bumps in one channel in another. We are only half way through our three year plan and I’m confident this is the right strategy.

Is your online business on track after its late launch caused problems at Christmas?

We are making good progress with the fixes we have made and are looking to get into growth after problems we had before Christmas.