Halfords finds two wheels good as it opens stores

Halfords is responding to the growing army of cycling Londoners by opening high street stores to offer them repairs and accessories on their way to and from work.

Chief executive David Wild said the three trial stores in Kilburn, Wimbledon and Ealing Broadway had kicked off well.

He said: "It is increasingly difficult to find sites for superstores in London but the High Street stores aimed at the urban cyclist have made a promising start.

"They open earlier than most of our stores and as well as bikes they carry 'the best of the rest' from our car range."

Halfords is relying much more on bikes as motorists continue to suffer with rising fuel and insurance costs reducing their discretionary spend on their cars.

Pre-tax profits fell 20% to £54.7 million on revenues barely changed at £454 million in the six months to end-September.

The dividend is being maintained at 8p a share.
Wild said: "We saw some margin slip in the first half as we held off passing on the full VAT rise and input costs onto our customers to encourage them to keep coming into the stores.

"It is impossible to predict when trading conditions will change.

"But we are not changing our guidance to the market for the full year."