Despite the loss, the firm achieved record sales of £29.6 million, up from £26.6m the year before, as it grew its Scottish presence from 19 to 25 sites during the period, with the estate now standing at 29 stores. The chain, which traces its roots to a single Kirkcaldy shop opened in 2014, now employs around 360 people across locations in Fife, Tayside, Edinburgh, Lanarkshire, Aberdeen and beyond.

Director Amir Aslam attributed the swing to a loss to the cost of opening new stores and refurbishing existing ones, which drove up depreciation charges and non-recurring costs, alongside continued investment in central resources. He said the directors consider the business to be performing well and that expansion plans, primarily through acquiring trading sites, are continuing.

Greens, part of the Glenshire Group owned by brothers Amir and Harris Aslam, has increasingly focused on creating “destination stores” and growing its food-to-go offering, with partnerships including Subway and Pizza Hut Delivery. The Aslam brothers also operate a number of Pizza Hut franchises across Scotland.

Gross profit improved to £7.95m from £6.54m the previous year, reflecting stronger buying power and economies of scale, with the gross margin rising to 26.83% from 24.62%. EBITDA after non-recurring items grew to £1.22m from £1.03m.

Acknowledging the challenges, Amir Aslam said: “Customers have increasingly been looking to shop more locally in recent years as a result of being time-poor’ as well as a
drive towards supporting local businesses generally. The key impending challenge to the company has been around displacement of sales from convenience to home delivery or customers visiting alternative grocery format stores.

“In practice, Covid-19 has generally had a positive effect on convenience retail market share with consumers continuing to shop more
ocally and buying ‘little and often’. This trend has continued post Covid-19 and is leading to continued sales growth.

“More recently, the cost of living crisis has the ability to displace sales to more value driven shopping formats such as to ‘discounters’.

“The company remains aware of this risk and continues to utilise its agility by constantly evolving its consumer offering and proposition.”