Tile specialist Topps Tiles has reported a slowdown in its sales growth at the start of its new financial year, even as it announced the acquisition of the brand and assets of its collapsed rival, Fired Earth.
Sales Growth Moderates Amid Consumer Caution
In a trading update on Tuesday 2 December 2025, the Leicestershire-based retailer revealed a more modest pace of expansion. Group sales, excluding its recently acquired CTD brand, increased by 3.3% over the nine weeks since the end of September. Like-for-like sales across its core Topps Tiles stores grew by 2% in the same period.
This represents a marked deceleration from the robust 5.3% like-for-like growth the company achieved in the full year to 27 September. The group attributed the recent softening to "weaker consumer confidence," linking it to a broader slowdown in spending ahead of the autumn Budget and subsequent tax increases.
Strategic Acquisition of Fired Earth
Alongside the trading update, Topps confirmed it has purchased the brand, intellectual property, website, and approximately £2.5 million worth of stock from Fired Earth. The Oxfordshire-based competitor fell into administration in October, leading to the closure of its 20 UK showrooms and 133 job losses.
Topps paid around £3 million for the assets in a rescue deal. This marks the company's second significant acquisition from administration in just over a year, following its £9 million purchase of CTD Tiles in 2024.
Profit Return and Integration Challenges
Despite the sales slowdown, Topps Tiles has swung back into the black. The company reported a statutory pre-tax profit of £8.3 million for the year to September, a significant recovery from a £16.2 million loss the previous year.
Integrating its previous acquisition, CTD, has presented challenges. The business was loss-making last year, partly due to costs associated with a Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation. The probe required Topps to sell off a number of CTD stores, leaving it with 22 remaining outlets. However, bosses stated the CTD arm is now on track to be profitable in the current financial year.
Incoming chief executive Alex Jensen described the overall yearly performance as a "very encouraging set of results." Nevertheless, investors reacted cautiously to the slowing growth, with shares in the company dipping in early trading on Tuesday following the announcement.
