Wickes Reports 2.1% Sales Growth as TradePro and Showroom Drive H1

Wickes Group has reported a 2.1% increase in revenue to £865.3m for the first half of 2026, with continued growth from TradePro and Design & Installation helping the retailer offset a deflationary pricing environment.

For the 26 weeks to 27 June 2026, total revenue increased from £847.9m to £865.3m, while adjusted profit before tax rose 1.1% to £27.6m. Statutory profit before tax increased 1.7% to £24.6m. The retailer said it remains on track to meet market expectations for approximately 10% growth in adjusted PBT for the full year. 

Retail revenue increased 0.8% to £639.8m despite 2.4% price deflation, with volume growth helping to compensate for lower selling prices. Like-for-like Retail revenue was down 0.3% across the half, although performance improved from a 1.7% decline in Q1 to growth of 0.7% in Q2. DIY sales were broadly flat. 

Trade continued to be an important source of growth for Wickes. TradePro sales increased by 5%, while the number of active TradePro members reached a record 671,000 compared with 615,000 in the same period last year. The increase in customer numbers was partially offset by a slight reduction in average basket values, reflecting deflation across a number of categories. 

Wickes also continued to gain Retail market share, particularly across decorative, gardening and timber categories. Digital fulfilment remained an important contributor, with digitally-led Click & Collect and Home Delivery sales increasing 7% during Q2. 

Design & Installation delivers fifth consecutive quarter of growth

Design & Installation revenue increased 5.7% to £225.5m, compared with £213.4m in H1 2025, marking a fifth consecutive quarter of delivered sales growth.

Lifestyle Kitchens and Bespoke Bathrooms performed strongly, although Wickes said customers remained more cautious around larger purchases, resulting in slower orders for Bespoke Kitchens. Overall project volumes increased, although ordered sales by value were slightly below the previous year.

The business has continued to broaden its kitchen and bathroom proposition, including its more affordable Lifestyle Kitchen ranges and the expansion of its bathroom offer.

Wickes maintains store expansion ambitions

Wickes finished the period with 229 stores and continues to target a longer-term estate of 300 locations.

Eight stores were refitted or refreshed during the first half, with the retailer planning four to five new openings during the second half of 2026. Wickes expects to accelerate this programme to seven to nine new stores in 2027, before targeting more than 10 openings annually from 2028. 

The business is increasingly using smaller-format stores of between 15,000 and 20,000 sq ft to access new catchments, while retaining broadly the same 9,000–10,000 SKU range carried by its larger stores.

Digital and AI investment continues

Wickes said digital investment remains central to both growth and productivity.

The retailer is currently rolling out new design software, transforming its tills into a unified commerce platform and plans to introduce a new order management system from 2027.

The business also highlighted growing use of AI. Its Mission Motivation Engine uses machine learning to deliver more personalised customer content, while its AI-powered stock forecasting platform has improved stock accuracy and contributed to a circa 70% reduction in third-party storage usage over the past two years. 

Wickes expects capital expenditure of around £40m during 2026 as investment in store expansion and technology increases, alongside £17m–£20m of technology investment which will be expensed through the income statement. 

Stronger momentum into Q3

Trading has strengthened since the end of the first half, with Wickes reporting mid-single-digit like-for-like Retail revenue growth so far in Q3.

Despite continued uncertainty around the consumer environment, Wickes expects productivity initiatives and lower business rates to support profitability during the second half and remains on track to deliver approximately 10% growth in adjusted profit before tax for the full year. 

David Wood, Chief Executive of Wickes, said the first half represented another period of “strong volume-led performance”, highlighting record TradePro membership and continued momentum across Design & Installation.

He added that growth had accelerated into Q3 and said continued investment in digital capability and the store estate would support the Group’s longer-term growth ambitions.

The Board has declared an interim dividend of 3.7p per share, up 2.8% year-on-year. 

Insight DIY view

There are probably three particularly interesting signals in these results.

First, the continued 5% growth from TradePro suggests Wickes is becoming increasingly effective at occupying that space between traditional builders’ merchants and the more convenience-led trade propositions of Screwfix and Toolstation.

Second, the return to meaningful growth in Design & Installation is important. Five consecutive quarters of delivered sales growth suggests the work undertaken to broaden the kitchen and bathroom proposition is beginning to produce sustained results.

And third, Wickes is becoming much clearer about the next phase of its growth model: more stores, smaller stores, faster fulfilment and deeper use of data and AI. The ambition to move from 229 stores towards 300, while simultaneously investing in unified commerce and order management, points to a business increasingly focused on extracting more productivity from each part of the customer journey.

If you want, I’d make the personal LinkedIn post next, because there are some very good angles here beyond simply repeating the headline numbers.

Source: Wickes Group & Insight News Team

For all the very latest news and intelligence on the UK's largest home improvement and garden retailers, sign up for the Insight DIY weekly newsletter.