Bettys has reported its highest ever sales figures for a Christmas period with 2021 seeing a 37% year-on-year increase.
The family-owned company, with two cafes in Harrogate, described it as a “huge achievement” after facing financial and recruitment challenges during the covid pandemic.
Its five cafe tea rooms report a £1.6 million increase on previous years with similarly high numbers in its retail sales. All shops also exceeded retail targets.
The 102-year-old company received a 4.2% increase in online orders, with 40% of those from new customers.
In response managing director, Simon Eyles, said:
“The Bettys business has had to weather a few storms in its 102-year history.
“This year all the teams across the Bettys business have done a truly exceptional job in the face of the worst recruitment challenges we’ve known, and the continuing worries and concerns of the global covid-19 pandemic. I am immensely proud of what we have achieved and cannot thank them enough.”
The business is still facing a recruitment a crisis and has been forced to continue with the shorter opening hours, which were brought in last August.
In Harrogate, the current opening hours are Monday to Friday 9.30-4pm, Saturday 9-5pm and Sunday 9-4pm.
It also made the decision to close one of its York stores this year. The 50-year-old store on Stonegate, known as Little Bettys, was closed as it was no longer “commercially viable”.
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