Marks Electrical has taken another chunk of the online appliance market with sales edging ever closer to £100 million. The Leicester headquartered business hit turnover of £97.8 million in the year to the end of March, up from £80.5 million.
Founder and chief executive Mark Smithson said the results were all-the-better as size of the overall market declined through the year. Pre-tax profits were £6.4 million, up from £3.8 million. Gross margins were pretty much 20 per cent.
The growth was driven by marketing drives helping to get Marks name better known around the UK, investment in installation services, and strong demand for energy efficient washing machines and tumble dryers, as well as premium range cookers and small appliances such as air fryers and coffee machines. Newly published results show marketing spend was 5 per cent of overall revenues.
Mr Smithson said year-on-year sales were up around a third in April and May, and the business had seen a “very strong” start to June.
He said: “We delivered another strong performance over the year, with revenue growth of 21.5 per cent, which was particularly pleasing when compared to a prior year comparative of 44 per cent and a difficult economic backdrop in which both the Major Domestic Appliances and Consumer Electronics markets have declined year-on-year.
“The market share gain we’ve achieved in the online MDA market from 3.5 per cent to 4.7 per cent has been driven by the strength of our high quality business model, our people and the attractiveness of our market-leading customer offering.
“More customers are discovering Marks Electrical and our focus on stocking the right products, at the right price, with the fastest and most convenient delivery and installation options sets us apart from the competition, enabling us to continue to grow, attract talent, strengthen our operational capacity and further develop our service offerings.”
The business was listed on the AIM stock exchange in 2021 and employs more than 200 people.
