James Davey

LONDON (Reuters – Currys, Britain’s largest electrical retailer is well stocked despite the disruption in supply chains. Its boss stated that it was confident of a strong Black Friday trading period and said that Currys’ stock levels were high.

British retailers are experiencing delays in international supply chains. These problems are made worse by labour shortages within the UK’s transport and warehousing systems.

Alex Baldock is the CEO of Currys. Currys was previously known as Dixons Carphone (LON). He stated that Currys had been diligent in mitigating the risks, and had an advantage as the UK’s market leader with suppliers like Samsung Electronics (OTC), Hewlett Packard (Arcelik), and Arcelik by having the first call for scarce stock.

It’s been hard work, but it’s paid off. “We have more stock than last year in our business and we are confident that we will have strong peak trading periods,” he said to reporters at Currys Staples Corner in north-west London. He also hosted Capital Markets Day.

“Are you going to find every item from every sub-category in every store?” he asked.

We might offer 120 large-screen televisions to put things in perspective.

Baldock was questioned if Currys stock would ever be completely out of certain product categories.

He said, “The quick answer is no. We’re not calling it out as a problem.”

Sainsbury’s was also warning shoppers on Thursday that there will be a shortage in consumer electronics this Christmas.

Currys stated earlier that strong demand for technology products drove its six-month sales to increase 15% over the period prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This enabled Currys’ launch of a $100 million share purchaseback.

The shares were up 8.8% as the company’s year-on-year growth reached 31%