STERLING Furniture, one of Scotland’s best known retail brands, has grown profits by 150 per cent amid challenging conditions helped by offering services such as interior design as well as selling things like settees.

The family-owned company made £2 million pre-tax profit in the year ended 28 February, compared with £0.8m in the preceding period following strong growth in sales.

Writing in the company’s accounts for the year, filed at Companies House, managing director Gordon Mearns said directors felt Sterling had delivered a good result in a difficult market.

“A mixture of cautious consumer sentiment and still relatively low levels of housing market activity have an impact on retail sales,” he wrote.

The housing market boom that ended in 2008 provided a big boost to demand for furniture.

Mr Mearns highlighted the fact Sterling increased sales by around 12 per cent annually in the latest financial year, to £50.1m from £44.9m.

He said the growth provided an endorsement of the strategy followed by the company, which achieved a national profile through long-running TV adverts featuring sports presenter Dougie Donnelly.

The strategy involves providing everything to furnish and finish a home.

“Rather than simply supplying pieces of furniture the group help customers coordinate a room providing both the inspiration and the overall products and services to support the main furniture,” said Mr Mearns.

In April last year Sterling opened an interior design hub at its flagship store in Tillicoultry, Clackmannanshire, as part of a push for continued growth.

Retailers have been trying to deepen relationships with consumers based on supplying services as well as goods.

Sterling has also been trying to persuade customers to spend more time in the Tillicoultry store when they visit.

In summer it invested £500,000 in a revamped cafe at the store.

The 208-seat Mill Cafe offers a family dining area with a play space and interactive areas for children.

Mr Mearns said at the time: “A superior café offering is more important now than ever in retail destinations like ours in Tillicoultry.”

Sterling opened the Tillicoultry store in 1974 in a disused mill, and became known as a pioneer of out-of-town shopping.

Owned by the family of founder George Knowles, Sterling has nine stores in Scotland, including outlets in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

The Scottish Retail Consortium has said the results of the latest sales monitor produced with KPMG painted a disappointing picture of the state of the sector.

Total sales fell by 2.4 per cent in October compared with the same month last year. Non food sales fell by 1.8 per cent annually.

David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG, noted discretionary spending seemed to be under pressure in Scotland, reflecting the frailty of the economic recovery.

However, the study found retailers were pleased with the sales of furniture and home accessories, as consumers’ focus began to shift to preparing their homes for Christmas.

Last month Sterling joined major retailers such as Boots and Marks & Spencer in warning that stores could be forced to shed jobs in Scotland unless business rates are overhauled.

In an open letter to The Herald, 40 firms and business organisations called for a fundamental reform of non-domestic rates, which raise £2.8 billion.

The monthly average number of employees at Sterling increased to 535 in the latest year, from 523 in the preceding period.