Changing habits during Covid lockdowns help Stockport's Adidas post record UK sales

Record sales have been reported by the Stockport-headquartered UK arm of Adidas as demand continued to rise following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sales of £1.29bn have been posted by the division for 2021, up from £1bn in 2020, newly-filed accounts have revealed. The company's pre-tax profits also jumped from £24.3m to £39.8m over the same period.

Adidas UK said its sales had risen because of a £207.7m jump in wholesale, £13.8m in its retail stores and £24.7m in online revenue.

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The newly-filed accounts also confirmed the number of people employed by the company increased from 1,146 to 1,294 during the year.

A statement signed off by the board said: "After a challenging 2020, Covid continued to impact sales in the first quarter of 2021; however, a good recovery in consumer confidence and continued customer desire for sports-inspired apparel and footwear from the changed habits of the lockdowns in 2020, saw sales increase in the rest of the year, as such 2021 generated our largest turnover ever, and a 24% increase on 2020.

"This was despite production issues as a result of Covid outbreaks impacting the second half of the year and notably in the fourth quarter.

"2022 has started with many challenges including significant rises in consumer prices and the war in Ukraine demonstrating the volatile world we live in.

"In spite of the above challenges, the 2022 outlook remains positive with growth expected, but we have seen over the last few years that we need to be prepared for changes ahead."

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