Retail Week Interiors - Retail 'plays big part' in Banner's record trading

Banner Holdings, the retail fit-out to rail maintenance group, has recorded its best-ever trading year.

The company posted sales of£58.2 million for last year, an improvement of nearly£3 million on its performance in 2002. Gross profit also improved from£3.1 million to£3.4 million.

Retail played a 'very significant' part in this, according to Banner chairman and managing director Peter Elston. 'We were probably between 8 per cent and 10 per cent up on last year in retail,' he said.

Last year, the company worked with M&S on its Simply Food roll-out.

Elston said this year is going well, and that a contract has been signed with Boots for the roll-out of 'a series of upgrades in the Northeast'.