While established Dutch high street chains such as Intertoys and Coolcat continue to collapse, budget retail group Action boosted consolidated sales 23% to €4.2bn last year, the company said on Tuesday.

Action opened a further 230 stores in seven European countries in 2018 – mainly France and Germany – and expanded its workforce by 5,000. Poland also got 19 new stores, following a successful trial involving six shops which were opened in 2017.

‘Action remains focused on its international growth strategy with the ambition to become a €10 billion sales company over the medium term,’ chief executive Sander van der Laan said in a statement.

The 2018 results were achieved despite a very challenging year for the broader European retail industry – caused in part by exceptional weather in the winter, summer and autumn, the company said.

The ‘yellow vest’ protest movement and railway strikes in France also led to reduced sales growth at key times in France, the company said.