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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Jon Robinson

Air fryers help boost turnover at Russell Hobbs seller Ultimate Products

Customers seeking out energy efficient and money saving items such as air fryers to help combat the cost of living crisis helped boost sales at Ultimate Products.

The company, which sells Russell Hobbs cookware and laundry products under licence, added that increased online orders helped its revenue rise by 2% to £87.6m in the six months to January 31, 2023. The "continued normalisation of global supply chains" also boosted its sales.

The business added: "Encouragingly, the level of general retailer overstocking experienced during 2022 which, along with the challenging macroeconomic environment, caused retailer customers to be cautious in the size of their forward orders, is now reducing in the UK and more normal patterns of order placing have recommenced."

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The Oldham-based company was founded in 1997 and employs more than 370 members of staff. It also has an office and showroom in Guangzhou, China and in Cologne, Germany.

It sells to over 300 retailers across 38 countries and its brands also include Salter, Progress, Kleeneze, Petra and Intempo.

Chief executive Simon Showman said: "Amidst a tough economic climate, we are delighted that our products, especially those that are energy efficient and money saving, continue to resonate strongly with consumers.

"Global supply chain disruption has now eased, which has improved stock availability and supported the growing demand from our online customers.

"Looking ahead, we expect that the current softness in global shipping pricing, as well as the partial recovery in Sterling, will provide additional relief against the ongoing inflationary backdrop.

"We are increasingly excited by the positive impact that our robotics process automation programme is having on our business.

"Our bottom-up, demand-led approach to automation enables us to concentrate efforts on the items that can most improve productivity, and this will ultimately enhance operating margins and drive an even better customer experience."

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