Waitrose has reported annual sales of more than £5 billion for the first time in its history.
The upmarket grocery chain achieved the milestone on Saturday January 29th following a 6.4 per cent year-on-year rise in sales during the previous week.
The landmark figure represents total sales growth of 10 per cent for the twelve months starting February 1, 2010. During that time, Waitrose has increased its share of the UK grocery market by 0.3 per cent to 4.4 per cent.
Mark Price, Managing Director of the John Lewis-owned chain, said: “Five billion is a fitting finale to a year of growth and consistent outperformance of our industry.”
“Achieving this milestone is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the 44,000 partners who work at Waitrose .”
Last week Waitrose was voted the UK’s favourite supermarket chain for the second year running by members of consumer group Which?, achieving five stars for product quality, customer service, range and availability and store environment.
The retailer also opened its first ‘Little Waitrose’-branded convenience store in Kensington, west London.
