at 110p. Michael Hollingbery revealed that inheritance tax had been one of the reasons for the flotation, saying: "If a death had occurred in the family we could have lost control or faced considerable financial problems." By November 1973, Comet had established 25 discount warehouses in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Grimsby, Hull, Jarrow, Leeds, Leicester, London, Norwich, Newport, Nottingham, Oxford, Reading, Rochdale, Sheffield, Southampton, Stockton-on-Tees, Sunderland, Wigan and Willenhall. Budget booms and busts (1974–1976) The business was impacted badly in 1974 by the three-day week, tighter government controls on hire purchase and consumer credit, and the knock-on effect of a worldwide shortage of steel and plastic. Relying on fast turnover to compensate for reduced margins (typically the company operated with only a 2% pre-tax margin), Comet was particularly vulnerable to any slump in consumer activity. Where previously it had been able to sell goods "so quickly that they are gone before the manufacturers' invoice has to be met" Comet now found itself having to dramatically revise its sales forecasts and reassess its orders. Competition from longer-established department stores and high street multiples was also growing, as Currys opened two discount warehouses (under the trading name Bridger Discount), followed by Great Universal Stores and Rediffusion. In September 1974, the group sold its television rental business to Spectra Rentals for £1.73 million, in an effort to reduce its overall debt. In 1975, Comet expanded its range of goods by purchasing the share capital of Gas Trend, a discount retailer of gas appliances, for £15,000. This placed Comet as the only large multiple retailer of gas appliances to compete against the nationalised British Gas Corporation which accounted for around 80% of the market. In April 1975, the electrical retail sector underwent a mini boom, following that month's budget announcement, that electrical appliances would be subject to a 25% VAT levy beginning 1 May 1975, a substantial increase from the previous rate of 8%. Although Comet reported sales increases of up to 600% in some of its warehouses, Michael Hollingbery warned that the group would be maintaining only the minimum working stock from 1 May onwards. Predicting an overall slump in sales of 50% he said: "[After 1 May] there will be a sales trough. What has been happening in the past week has been that people have merely brought forward the purchase they had planned to make later in the year or have realised