Green shoots: Cycling sales grow for Halfords and new CEO appointed

Halfords, a bellwether indicator for a good chunk of the UK’s bicycle consumers, has seen cycle sales grow in FY25 – the 52 weeks to 28 March 2025. That will likely be viewed by the industry as a big positive with many keenly eyeing the sector for positive signs to support recent cautious optimism.

Halfords retail like-for-like sales turned positive in H2, improving in both Motoring and Cycling to deliver FY25 like-for-like sales of +1.7%. Retail makes up approximately 60% of overall Halfords Group sales (alongside Autocentres) with Motoring across both segments contributing around 80% of total sales.

Overall like-for-like performance for the group was+2.3% vs a strong prior year comparative (FY24: +5%).

Halfords noted that Autumn Budget changes to National Insurance and Minimum Wage thresholds would result in circa £25m of incremental direct labour cost in the current financial year (FY26). Halfords said: “We expect to be able to mitigate the entirety of the direct inflationary impact of the Autumn Budget in FY26. However, retail sales remain volatile and the consumer outlook is uncertain.”

Tariff troubles?

Halfords has no direct export or import business with the US, but the group felt the need to reference it in terms of indirect impact on product costs, freight rates and shipping times which currently “remains to be seen, as does the impact on consumer spending”.

New CEO

Graham Stapleton is leaving Halfords and will be succeeded after seven years in the role. New CEO is Henry Birch, who joins the business this week. In his outgoing statement, Stapleton noted Halfords’ increasing diversity of income streams.

Graham Stapleton said: “This is a performance to be proud of, mitigating more than £30m of inflation in what continued to be a very challenging trading environment in FY25. I want to thank every single Halfords colleague for their hard work in achieving a significantly stronger result than we anticipated at the start of the financial year.”

After seven years leading the transformation of Halfords from a cycling and motoring retailer to an omnichannel motoring services super-specialist, most recently brought to life through the Fusion programme, it is time for me to hand over the reins for the next phase of the business’s evolution. I wish Henry and the team all the best.”