One year after moving from its historic home in London Road to Church Street in Liverpool retailer TJ Hughes returns to profit, despite the impact of Middle East conflict. Tony McDonough reports

Iconic Liverpool retailer TJ Hughes has returned to profit after overcoming the impact of the pandemic and soaring energy costs.

One year ago, TJs relocated its flagship Liverpool store from London Road, where it had operated for more than a century, into the 70,000 former H&M store in Church Street in the heart of the city’s retail district.

Shortly after the move LBN revealed the business, which trades out of 14 stores, mainly in the North West of England, had reported pre-tax losses of more than £400,000 for the 12 months to December 31, 2023.

In the last few days TJs, run by an entity called LHR Holding, has posted its accounts for the year to December 31, 2023. They show a pre-tax profit of £139,294. Revenues for the year were slightly lower – just under £26.6m compared to £27.7m in 2022.

In the annual report, director Anil Juneja described the latest results as “encouraging after the difficulties of recent years”. Like many retailers TJs faced significant challenges from the COVID pandemic followed by “unprecedented energy cost increases”.

Many of the goods TJs sells in its stores are manufactured in the Far East and transported to the UK via container ships. This has allowed TJs to keep costs down and offer low prices to customers.

However, as a result of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians in the Middle East Houthi rebels in Yemen have been firing on commercial shipping in the Red Sea at various points in 2024.

This has led to some vessels avoiding the area and the Suez Canal altogether and seeking alternative routes which has pushed up the cost of transporting cargo.

Mr Juneja said: “This seems to have stabilised recently though there are increased geopolitical tensions and conflicts in the Middle East that could impact trade routes in the coming year.”

However, he added he was upbeat about the company’s prospects, adding: “Going forward it is expected that trade will continue to improve as shoppers return to the high street.

“A combination of the company’s portfolio of diverse, market-leading brands, along with the control of costs and an enthusiastic, dedicated workforce, lead the board to view the company’s future performance to be secure.”

Mr Juneja was credited with saving TJ Hughes when it collapsed into administration in 2011. At that point it was a national chain trading from 57 locations.

He swooped in to prevent the famous name disappearing for good. He relaunched the business from just six outlets. He has since grown this to 14, mainly in the North West of England with a new store set to open in Warrington. It also trades online.

TJ Hughes’s former home in London Road. Picture by Tony McDonough

The business, which employs almost 400 people, operates two divisions – TJ Hughes and Leading Brands 4U, a consumer private label. Along with other investors, Mr Juneja controls another famous Liverpool retail brand.

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Lewis’s department store first opened in 1856 and its flagship store was located on the corner of Ranelagh Street in Liverpool city centre and was adorned with the celebrated nude statue above its main entrance.

Although the Lewis’s store itself eventually closed in 2010 following a long battle for survival, the brand lives on in TJ Hughes as Brand Lewis’s and features a range of kitchen and homeware products.