Gloucester-based kitchenware brand, ProCook, has seen trading hit by the cost-of-living crisis.

But sales are still significantly higher than for the same period in 2019, before the pandemic.

Since the brand updated on its performance for the fourth quarter ending April 3, trading has been impacted by increasingly challenging market conditions, with customers affected by the pressures on spending.

ProCook said it is currently trading against exceptionally strong comparatives from last year, when it benefited from pent-up demand following the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions and the reopening of shops. As a result, its like-for-like sales are down across all channels, in line with the wider kitchenware market.

In the first eight weeks of the year, ProcCook attracted 89,000 new customers to the brand, which it said reflects the strength of its value-for-money, quality kitchenware offer. But as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, it is seeing a negative impact on average spend, conversion and repeat sales.

As a result of recent trading conditions and the ongoing pressures on consumers, the brand expects the kitchenware market to remain highly challenging for the remainder of the current year.

It now anticipates that revenue for the current year will be in line with that achieved last year - £69.2m. It expects adjusted pre-tax profits to be between £4 million and £6 million.

Daniel O'Neill, CEO and founder of ProCook, said: "There are clear and numerous pressures on consumers at present, which are impacting discretionary spend across retail as a whole, and kitchenware is no exception.

"Whilst we are still seeing lots of new customers discovering the ProCook brand and buying our products, it is clear that many are tightening their belts. This creates a difficult short-term trading environment, but does not distract us from our strategic priorities, as we work towards our mission of becoming the first choice for kitchenware."