ALDI HELPS TOILET ROLL FIRM TO A SALES RECORD

CONTRACT wins with Lidl and Aldi helped tissue roll maker Accrol toast rising sales and profits.

The firm, which floated on AIM at 100p per share last June, saw its profits leap 29.3pc to £7.4m in the year to the end of April, from £5.7m the year before. Sales jumped 14.2pc to £135.1m.

Eighty-five percent of Accrol’s business involves making and supplying unbranded tissue rolls to supermarkets, which put their own branding on the product. The rest involves selling its own branded tissues to small chains and convenience stores. Boss Steve Crossley said the business can benefit as inflation hits, as shoppers look for cheaper alternatives.

He said while a four-pack Andrex toilet roll can cost anything from £2.20, and an own-label supermarket roll around £1.75, discount tissue brands cost as little as £1.45 – which is ‘just as good if not better than a leading own label product’, he claimed.

Crossley said: ‘We believe that as price increases come through, this will continue to drive shoppers to seek good value in the discount and multiple own-label sectors.’