JJB nets £17.4m from 5-A-Side sale

Sportswear retailer JJB Sports today sold its Soccer Domes five-a-side football business to focus on reviving its high street stores.

The £17.4m (€23m) sale to operator Powerleague Fives comes a month after JJB warned profits for the second half of 2007 would be lower than the previous year.

JJB’s Soccer Domes are based in Manchester, Wigan, Derby, Blackburn and North Shields with 69 pitches in total, of which 57 are indoors.

Chief executive Chris Ronnie said: “The sale is representative of our strategy of focusing on re-energising our retail offering.”