M and M closes on £100m sales

M and M Direct is on track to top £100 million of sales this year, thanks to the boom in the discount and internet sectors.

The business, which sells brands at discounts of up to 75%, grew by 20% last year, with sales of £74 million for the year to the end of February. Sales for the start of the current financial year are up by double digits.

Chief executive Steve Robinson said: "£100m is the next hurdle for us and the way we are gaining new customers, and the way they are spending more frequently means we are in sight of that."

Hitting the £100m target would mean the company will have almost doubled its turnover within three years.

M and M Direct is the latest example of a discount retailer outperforming the wider fashion sector. TK Maxx posted like-for-like sales up 5% for the first quarter, while etailer Asos told Drapers it planned to launch a discount site in September to capitalise on the booming off-price market.

M and M Direct also has ambitious growth plans and will relocate to a 200,000sq ft distribution centre in Hereford by August, which will be double the size of its existing operation.

It will also revamp its website later this summer to give it more of a trend-led look. Robinson said: "The discount sector can still grow – there's room for both Asos and us."