His view is similar to Lord Wolfson at Next, who has moved a number of his clothes shops out of town centres to retail parks. Currenly over 14pc of shops in Britain are vacant as many retailers find it hard to cope with high business rates, high rents and low customer numbers. Some campaigners, notably Mary Portas, says expensive parking in town centres is partly to blame.
Alongside the store closures, the company published a set of full-year results that slightly beat analysts’ expectations, and which suggested that trading had improved in recent months at its core UK and nordic markets. It said television and white goods sales had been surprisingly strong.
However, the company was hit by substantial financial write-downs at its Greek, Italian and Pixmania online retail business. The write down totalled £190m.
The group made a pre-tax loss of £119m, an improvement in the loss of £224m made the year before, when it was also hit by write-downs.
On an underlining basis profits slid from £85.3m to £70.8m, on turnover unchanged at £8.19bn.
It has vowed to save £90m a year by merging its PC-World and Currys shops.
Mr James suggested Dixons was not wedded to Italy or Turkey, following its departure from Spain last year. He said: “I’m committed to making the business in Italy more successful,” but added that he wanted to operate only in countries where Dixons was a market leader, which it is not the case in Italy and Turkey.
Most analysts were upbeat about the company’s performance in Britain and at its Elkjop group, based in Denmark.
David Jeary at Investec said: “This was a very positive and forward-looking maiden prelims presentation from the incoming chief executive.”
Mr James said that he was convinced that, despite cutting back on shops, multichannel retailers that ran websites as well as physical stores could ultimately perform more profitably that pure online retailers such as Amazon.
“I’m convinced our model is stronger than ever,” he said pointing out that 82pc of shop purchases involved a trip to the website as well. He said that the discount that online players offered to customers had fallen significantly from a peak of 22pc a few years ago to just 6.5pc on average.
“And in some categories it is zero.” He explained that suppliers were prepared to offer better prices to retailers that could display their products effectively in shops.
The shares climbed 1.18p to 17.18p.
Steve Carell Still Shops At Supermarket - femalefirst.co.uk
Steve Carell insists he hasn't let his fame and success change him as a person and he still does normal things like taking out the trash and going to the supermarket for groceries.
Steve Carell insists he is an "everyman" star and he still does his own shopping at the supermarket.
The comic actor - who appears opposite Keira Knightley in new movie 'Seeking a Friend for the End of the World' - doesn't let his fame stop him from doing normal things and insists he doesn't need a personal assistant to help him live his life.
He revealed: "Listen, I'm everyman. I take the garbage out. Roll bins to the curb. Separate recyclables. No personal assistant. It's what I know to do, and I do it.
"I go to the supermarket. We were out of nonfat vanilla Coffee-mate, so I ran in, and people say hello to me. Some guy pushing a cart nods to me and says, 'Nice.' "
Steve is married to actress Nancy Walls and the couple have two children, Annie, 11, and John, 8, and he admits his priorities in life shifted when he became a dad.
The 49-year-old funnyman's decision to quit his lead role as Michael Scott in 'The Office' after seven seasons was influenced by his desire to see more of his children.
When asked why he walked away from the series in an interview with the New York Post newspaper, he said: "I needed more time with my family. It sounds cliché, but it's true. Seven years I was gone all day, every day. My kids are 8 and 11, they are only little for a finite time. They were here, and I wasn't, so it was time to leave. I do sliding ponds, vacations, Disney World with them. Life's too short not to. Every morning I take them to school. I truly love it. I love them. I love my wife, Nancy.
"You know what? Career's luck. Right place, right time. I never lose sight of being fortunate."
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