Merseyside-based UK fashion and homeware giant Matalan, who have a large retail presence in Quedgeley's Olympus Park and an outlet at Gallagher Retail Park, Cheltenham, have made a £35m investment into lowering the prices on more than 700 products. The changes take immediate effect.

Billed as a move to support customers through the cost-of-living crisis, prices are being cut on selected items across all core categories both online and instore, with the average reduction amounting to 15%, but some products seeing a drop of as much as 25%.

Fashion, bedding, home storage and bathroom essentials are in line for the reductions, which the company, established in 1985 by John Hargreaves and still owned by the same family, says it has been able to make in reflection of lower inflation costs and a more collaborative buying and sourcing strategy.

Jo Whitfield, chief executive, said: "The start of the year is always a tough time financially and this year, given how difficult 2023 was for so many families, it'll be harder than ever.

"So, for 2024 we want to start the year off differently. We've unlocked efficiencies at a time when inflation and input costs are starting to fall, enabling us to pass these savings on directly to our customers - bringing down the prices of new and existing lines of everyday essentials and favourites across all our key categories."

Ms Whitfield took on the role of CE in March 2023 after leading the Co-op's food business operation. The reductions instigated by her follow a move in December to create 10 new third-party fashion brands to its website including Quiz, Yumi and Vanilla. More are planned for later this year.

● Matalan saw its second-quarter EBITDA rise 30% to £47.9m, which it attributed to tight control of markdowns, effective cost management and a 0.8% rise in sales for the period to £288.6m. EBITDA outlook for FY24 was forecast as £60m-£65m, the retailer said earlier in 2023, representing significant earnings recovery against the prior year.