Majestic Wine's bosses have broken out the champagne to celebrate a 27.4 per cent preliminary earnings hike.
The store group toasted profits of£10.6 million - up from£8.3 million last year - on sales that fizzed up 18 per cent to£148.3 million.
Majestic chief executive Tim How has plans to open 60 more shops over the next seven year, taking store numbers to 175.
'I think 175 stores nationally is a realistic target for us at the moment,' said How.
'The market is getting bigger, because more people are drinking wine and are beginning to drink a greater range. Wine is the fastest-growing part of the drinks market.'
At present, Majestic controls 3 per cent of the UK wine market, which is growing at about 6 per cent a year.
Because the retailer sells wine by the case only, its average spend per transac-tion is£107.'The reason why we enjoy such high figures is that we are selling specifically to wine enthusiasts,' explained How.
- Leader: page 11.
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