Hajir Hajji, CEO Action

2022 was a memorable year for Action as we celebrated reaching 2000 stores as well as opening our first stores in Spain.  Action demonstrated outstanding resilience throughout the year given the economic challenges posed by the Ukraine war, the after effects of Covid 19 and rising energy and consumer price inflation.

Our diverse and experienced teams of skilled colleagues all over Europe proved adept at managing these challenges and making the most of our  unique retail formula. We continued to surprise our customers with both day-to-day essentials and products that inspire and enrich lives. Sales of essential products like detergent and toilet paper grew as much as 30% year-on-year, as our offer met the needs of increasingly price-conscious customers. We also responded quickly to the changing world around us, adapting our assortment to meet the increased demand for products like heaters, candles and plaids in response to steep energy price rises.

We offer 6,000 products instore through 14 categories, including 150 new products each week. We always sell at the lowest price and we are developing more and more sustainable choices which underpin our goal to make sustainability accessible to everyone.

We believe that it is possible to offer customers products that  are both the lowest price and are sustainable. With Action’s size and growth, we can make a difference if we succeed. That is why we will continue to improve the quality and sustainability of our products and stores, even in challenging market circumstances. Our Action Sustainability Programme, has concrete targets that we continue to refine as we progress further, with international laws and regulations as the minimum baseline. In 2022, we refined our short-term emissions target: we are now committed to reducing CO2 emissions from our own operations (Scope 1 and + 2, versus the 2021 baseline) by 60% by 2030. We also brought forward the dates by which we aim to source all our cotton and timber sustainably. We achieved 90% sustainable sourcing for cotton and 92% for timber in 2022.

Action continues to be the fastest-growing non-food discount retailer in Europe. We welcome more than 14 million customers each week in our 2,263 stores (store count year-end 2022). Another 6.5 million people visit Action.com or use the Action app on a weekly basis.

Our growth makes us a large and diverse employer. We provide work to 80,000 people with more than 136 nationalities in 11 countries. Our teams are essential in creating the Action atmosphere and providing service in our stores, which makes a real difference for our customers. I visit many of our stores during the year  and always come away feeling strengthened in the belief that our customers will experience an attractive store with an engaged Action team.

That is why we continue to invest in the ongoing development of our employees. We offered many further career opportunities through internal promotions, and created thousands of new jobs. This continues to accelerate as we grow and develop Action further.

We warmly invite you to enjoy Update2022. We have made a promising start to 2023 opening our first store in Slovakia and celebrating our 30th anniversary. We have achieved a great deal in the last thirty years but we also recognise that Action is still at an early stage in its full development. Without our customers, we would not be where we are today. Also, a word of thanks to all Action colleagues, partners and suppliers for their commitment and contribution to another excellent year.