WORCESTERSHIRE-based cycling retailer Halfords is expected to report a 9.5 per cent increase in revenue in comparison with last year over the last six months next week.

The Redditch company – which is the country’s biggest seller of bikes – is due to report its half-year results on Wednesday, November 5 and is expected to announce a turnover of £48.8 million.

The success has been put down to the warm summer and an increase in the popularity of the sport in the wake of the success of Olympic champions including Sir Chris Hoy and Sir Bradley Wiggins.

The company runs 465 stores and 303 Autocentres across the UK and is currently in the middle of a three-year £100m investment programme upgrading branches.

In June it bought Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman’s bike business and the next month announced it would create 500 new jobs, taking its overall staff numbers to 12,500.