Ashworth and Parker —better known as UK luxury retailer END. — continued to face tough market conditions in the year to the end of March, its latest accounts filing has shown.

That was despite its previous year having been particularly problematic as it dealt with the massive challenge of a multimillion pounds stock write-off.

This time, the company said the retail landscape remained challenging as macroeconomic pressures persisted both in the UK and abroad. High inflation and interest rates “weighed heavily on consumer spending” and the company took “proactive steps to reduce inventory intake throughout the year to de-risk its inventory exposure”.

The outcome of such actions meant a 3.8% reduction in revenue, which dropped to £212.7 million. But at least the inventory position improved significantly and it closed the year at £62 million, down from £92.7 million.

The slowdown in market demand and extensive levels of discounting required the company to increase its promotional activity further and this meant the underlying gross margin dropped to 28.3% from 35.1%.

Yet the retailer was able to deliver positive EBITDA before exceptional itemsof £6 million, although this was down from £28.2 million in the previous year. It said its profitability was supported by several strategic changes and investments aimed at increasing operational efficiency and bolstering future growth initiatives.

Actions during the year included it appointing a chief buying and merchandising officer and a new COO with it saying that both leaders have contributed to advancing strategic goals and enhanced its resilience as it navigates a volatile retail market.

It also invested in the expansion of its merchandising team, which has helped it better manage its inventory and a “thorough strategic review” has also helped it further refine its curation of brands.

It has been consolidating its warehouse facilities as well and this has delivered improved operating efficiency. Meanwhile combining its two store offerings in Newcastle into a single flagship has been key.

But while the pre-exceptional EBITDA was positive, the restructuring plan contributed to a negative post-exceptional EBITDA figure of £16 million, down from a positive £12.9 million a year earlier.

On the plus side it said it has continued to launch major collaborations and grow its social media community, as well as investing in technology to strengthen the customer experience. By leveraging artificial intelligence, it has enabled faster response times to customer queries.

Ashworth and Parker also said its financial position strengthened following the year end as the company, plus its subsidiaries and immediate parent, Lobster Bidco Limited, were acquired by Apollo global management. This has significantly reduced its debt and interest payments.