Pre-tax profit at retail fit-out specialist Styles & Wood plunged by 54% in the first half of the year.

In the six months to 30 June 2008, profit fell from 拢5.2m to 拢2.4m as the company felt the impact of the retail slowdown.

Turnover dropped 18% from 拢149.8m to 拢123.1m, andthe firm made 80 redundancies over the period.

Ivan McKeever, its chief executive, said: 鈥淭he current market conditions continue to challenge our business, as retailers affected by lower consumer spend defer store investment decisions and exert pressure on their supply chain.鈥�

On the up side, McKeever said the firm鈥檚 order book for 2008 was full.

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