Britain's Most Admired Companies 2012: Retailers (broadline/home) sector
Competition to deck out your homes and fill your fridges is fierce. These five retailers have won the respect of their peers and rivals by consistently getting their foot through your door.
Another victory for employee ownership as John Lewis retains the top spot, boasting profits up 60% to £144.5m. Posh supermarket arm Waitrose’s like-for-like sales are up 9.2% and the Olympics gave JLP a big boost – it was a sponsor and sold official merchandise. DIY and home retailer Kingfisher climbed one place to second, despite a 20% slump in profits blamed on bad summer weather. Boss Ian Cheshire can take consolation from industry recognition of his work on strategy, however – the group topped the sector list for quality of management. M&S dropped to third: food sales in the first half rose by 1.1% but overall revenues were down 1.4% and profits fell 9.6% to £290m. Dunelm rises one to fourth place.
