Primark to launch British home delivery services

Primark is set to launch home delivery services in Great Britain.

The high street retailer’s owner Associated British Foods has bought a Sheffield warehouse to support the plans.

Bosses say deliveries will start “in the future” for England, Scotland and Wales.

The Sheffield site has been bought from the Debenhams Group in a £90 million deal, and is not expected to have an impact on jobs.

The move comes after Primark expanded its ‘click and collect’ service for people to shop and make purchases online before collecting in stores.

It also precedes Associated British Foods’ plans to separate Primark from its food business and list it on the FTSE 100 as a standalone entity by the end of 2027.

George Weston, Associated British Foods’ chief executive, said: “Primark has made significant progress in building its digital capabilities and will continue this through growing 'click and collect' and offering home delivery in Great Britain in the future.

“There is an opportunity for incremental and profitable growth through this channel.”

In a trading update, Associated British Foods revealed Primark sales are expected to have dipped by 2.6 per cent over the past financial year, which ends on Saturday, when compared like-for-like with the year before.

The decline has been driven by weaker sales in continental Europe, whereas sales in the UK are estimated to have edged up by 0.6 per cent year-on-year.

Associated British Foods owns a roster of brands in the grocery sector including Kingsmill, Twinings, Jordans, Patak’s and Hovis.

It warned adjusted operating profits for the division are expected to be slightly lower than previous expectations for the full year, partly because of Twinings sales being dampened by the heatwaves reducing demand for hot tea.

It also has a sugar business, which has been impacted by higher gas costs linked to the Middle East conflict and the prolonged spell of hot and dry weather affecting the UK beet crop.

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