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On this episode of Talking Shop I’m joined by Alain Bejjani—former Group CEO of Middle East retail giant Majid Al Futtaim, and author of the definitive new book, NEXT: Leading Through the New Realities. Drawing on his childhood in war-torn Beirut, and his experience steering a $9.5bn dollar retail and lifestyle empire through a global pandemic, Alain brings an unmatched perspective on leadership under pressure. Today, we break down his crisis survival playbook for retailers operating in distress. We discuss why resilience must always outpace efficiency, the four assets a brand must protect at all costs, and how to turn macro-turmoil into a long-term direction that scales.

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Wickes has announced that its group revenues have risen 6.9% to £533.1m during the 17 weeks ended 26 April 2025.

This came after strong volume-led sales growth within its retail arm which saw its revenue grow 9.6% to £396.7m in the period. Wickes stated that it increased its market share further, with particularly strong performance in building, garden and decorating categories.

Wickes added it has been well positioned to benefit from the warmer weather at the start of this year, which has supported the strong sales performance in retail. For example, in the week of the early May bank holiday, the company had its biggest ever week for sales of compost and top soil.

It also stated that its TradePro service continued to perform strongly, with sales up 13% year-on-year, while active TradePro members increased by 14% year-on-year to 605,000.

Despite this, the company saw its design and installation category fall flat, posting a slight decrease of 0.4% to £136.4m.

The retailer stated that work was underway to convert four former Homebase stores as part of our plan to open 5-7 new stores in 2025. It has also refitted three further stores in the period and c.80% of the store estate is in the new format.

David Wood, Wickes CEO, said: “This has been a strong start to the new financial year, with the further increase in sales driven exclusively by volume growth, as more customers shop with us. Within retail, we have gone from strength to strength. We have taken further market share and seen a very good market outperformance in timber, hardware, decor and garden.

“In design and installation, we are benefitting from the actions taken to enhance the Wickes
offer. This is a segment demonstrating real momentum, with a second quarter in a row of
ordered sales growth. While we continue to be mindful of consumer sentiment and a challenging external environment, we have a strong platform in place and we are well set to continue delivering against our strategy.”

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