The Designers Guild Group, which designs, wholesales and retails furnishings fabrics, wallcoverings, upholstery, beds and home accessories, has reported a growth in sales.

According to its latest filed accounts for the year ended 31 March 2022, total sales rose 9.6% to £43.5m from £39.6m in 2021. Pre-tax profit resulted at £173,000, down from £2.2m recorded the previous year.

UK sales during the period were up 20.1% to £14.9m from £12.4m, while sales in Europe declined slightly to £20.3m from £20.4m. Outside the EU, revenues rose 24.2% to £8.2m from £6.6m.

Designers Guild, which operates two London based flagship retail stores as well as wholesale accounts in over 55 markets globally, said due to the end of furlough and a rise in delivery and duty costs as a result of Brexit, this impacted profitability.

During the period the company ceased deliveries to Russia due to the war in Ukraine, while adding that it experienced a slowdown in demand from countries close to the region, including Poland and Germany.

Looking ahead, the group said: “As we look forward to the forthcoming year, we are seeing far less disruption to our EU business and the strategies actioned to offset the Brexit related cost increase coming through.

“This combined with our new collection launches and new licensing arrangements with Ralph Lauren and English Heritage makes us extremely optimistic for good levels of growth moving forward with a return to pre-pandemic levels imminent.”