Budget retail giant B&M has revealed the locations of four new superstores set to open across the UK within the next month. The value retailer has affirmed its commitment to nationwide expansion, with additional branches launching in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland in the coming weeks.
The opening date for a store in Plymouth - located in The Broadway, Plymstock - has now been confirmed for later this month. The first outlet is set to open on Main Street, Strabane, County Tyrone, on Saturday, February 28.
The remaining three launches, spread across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, will all take place within a week during March.
A branch in Strabane, County Tyrone, is slated to open on Friday, March 20. The following day, another store will debut in Fort William, Inverness-shire on Saturday, March 21.
Then, a shop will open on Broadway Plymstock on March 28. These openings add to six branches that have recently launched, bringing the total to 10 new stores.
Last month, B&M issued another profit warning amid declining revenues and aggressive discounting as it continues with restructuring efforts.
The retailer revealed UK like-for-like sales fell 0.6% during the crucial trading period ending December 27, though it posted a positive 3% increase in December and confirmed that growth had persisted into January. The company cut its full-year underlying profit guidance for the third occasion since October, to between £440 million and £475 million, down from previous expectations of £470 million to £520 million.
This represents a significant decline from the £620 million underlying profit delivered for the year to March 29 2025.
BandM stated: "The downward movement in range is driven by ongoing investments in pricing and clearance, improvements in stock quality and the financial underperformance of Heron Foods, where we continue to review and reposition our customer offer."
Sales at Heron Foods dropped 0.1% in the most recent quarter. BandM revealed it had intensified initiatives to shift surplus inventory through substantial price cuts and remained "confident the actions we are taking can restore sustainable like-for-like growth at BandM UK over the next 12 to 18 months".
The group's "back to basics" approach unveiled last October has involved bolstering its value credentials, including price cuts throughout the range, whilst it has also substantially trimmed its product assortment across multiple categories as part of measures to simplify operations and reduce expenses. Beyond its trading difficulties, the company was also hit last October by an accounting blunder when it failed to correctly account for an extra £7 million in international freight costs, forcing it to lower its annual profit expectations.
In January, the group revealed its inquiry into the issue had finished, stating that "implementation of the report's recommendations on specific IT and financial operational processes is under way".
Tjeerd Jegen, who took up the chief executive role last year, said: "As we progress 'Back to BandM Basics', we are identifying opportunities to make deeper investments in clearing discontinued lines.
"As with our pricing actions, these are investments in the long-term strength of BandM, but they do impact near-term financial performance.
"As a result, we are revising our full-year guidance downwards to reflect these actions and the financial underperformance at Heron."
