British Heart Foundation
The health charity's retail outlets made a profit of £31m in the financial year ending in 2012
Charity shops run by the British Heart Foundation made a record profit of more than £31m in the financial year ending in 2012.
BHF Shops, which is the charity’s retail arm and has more than 700 shops in the UK, raised £5m more than in the previous year.
It said the increase was due to a combination of people seeking bagains in the poor economic climate and an expansion in the number of shops it owns.
New research commissioned by the charity and released this week shows that 44 per cent of the 2,000 adults polled said they shopped more in charity shops than they did a few years ago.
Value for money is a key motivator: 53 per cent said they visited charity shops more because they could find "great quality items at low prices" and 43 per cent said it was because "charity shops fit my budget at the moment".
Half of respondents said they chose charity shops because they love the "unique finds" they offer.
Mike Lucas, retail director at the BHF, said: "The recession has seen our sales grow, giving us the confidence to further extend our nationwide network."
The charity’s retail arm grew by 5 per cent in the past financial year. The total income of the British Heart Foundation in the financial year ending in 2011 was £125.2m.
