Homewares retailer, Dunelm has suffered a 2.4% decrease in like-for-like sales, making it a part of the many companies who have endured trading challenges as consumers spend less. These figures were blamed on unseasonal weather; however Dunelm chairman Andy Harrison said: "Sales in the first two months of the new financial year have started positively, with good LFL sales boosted by favourable weather comparatives. We expect to open a total of 8 new stores in the first half of the year of which 4 are already open."
      
 "Dunelm has made good strategic progress over the year, most notably with the acquisition of Worldstores, which moves us closer to our goal of being the biggest and best multichannel homewares retailer in the UK. Over the medium-term we are aiming to double our sales to £2bn, with 30%-40% from our increasingly important online channel.

"We expect the trading climate to remain challenging with the disposable income of UK consumers under pressure. Nevertheless, we have a full programme of management actions underway to further improve the Dunelm customer proposition, both online and in-store, increase our business efficiency and support our colleagues.”