Goals Soccer Centres is to appoint a development director to advance its expansion plans in the US, writes Simon Bain.

Chairman Keith Edelman told shareholders at the Scottish company's annual meeting, staged in south-east London, that the group had opened new centres in Manchester and Doncaster and was on track to open another UK centre this year.

He went on: "We are making good progress in the US and are in advanced discussions on several sites within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. We have so far agreed heads of terms on two of these. As a result of the progress made to date and the scale of the opportunity we have decided to appoint an experienced development director." There would be an ongoing additional annual cost of £300,000.

Mr Edelman said sales growth has strengthened over the past five weeks, following challenging comparatives at the start of the year.

He said: "As a result of ongoing initiatives including the launch of our new app and website, the strength of our core business, the expansion opportunity in the US and the improving economic backdrop, we are confident of making further progress during this year and beyond."

The shares were unchanged at 212p.