GLOUCESTERSHIRE’S RETAIL HEAVYWEIGHTS EXPAND AGAIN

Weird Fish partners with Next and Zalando to accelerate overseas expansion

Tewkesbury-based clothing retailer Weird Fish is launching new partnerships with online retail giants Next and Zalando.

Weird Fish will sell its full range of womenswear and menswear across Next and Zalando’s ecommerce sites, allowing the brand to reach more than 53 million active customers across 93 countries.

Revenues at the lifestyle clothing brand were up by 71 per cent to £35.5 million in the year to 31 December 2021, compared to 2020, as a result of strong online sales during the period.

Overall ecommerce revenue was up by 74 per cent to £21 million against the previous year. The retailer said it drove more revenue online in November 2021 compared to the whole of 2019.

Ben Mercier, Weird Fish’s Customer Director, said: “In the constantly changing retail environment it is our objective to identify new markets and opportunities for growth. Partnering with established fashion retailers like Next and Zalando is a logical step in building our brand awareness into 2022 and beyond.”

The new open market partnerships consolidate Weird Fish’s existing online presence with ecommerce leaders Amazon, Ebay and OnBuy, as the brand expands internationally.

But such success wouldn’t have been possible if Weird Fish hadn’t already made a major investment in its digital systems.

According to the boss John Stockton, who joined the business in 2008 when it had around a dozen staff in a small industrial unit in Cheltenham, pretty much every bit of capital the company has spent over the last few years has been in technology.

Speaking to Business & Innovation Magazine last year, he said: “The only clever thing we have done is invest in digital, which rose 400-500 per cent over the last three years, and in people with contemporary knowledge, skills and views.”

ProCook expands again after seeing major growth in sales

Fast-growing kitchenware retailer ProCook is expanding again, developing a 167,000 sq ft warehouse at Gateway 12, Gloucester. The move comes after the company enjoyed a 30 per cent growth in trade over the previous year.

The move will help the company, which floated on the London Stock Exchange last November, consolidate operations from its two existing premises under one roof.

The new facility will have space for product development, a photography studio, enlarged warehouse operations and its head office function, bringing together 220 employees in one location.

Polly Troughton, Managing Director at St. Modwen Logistics, which is developing the facility, said: “ProCook has experienced rapid growth over the last 10 years and this warehouse will further support its commitment to growth, sustainability and employee wellbeing.

The brand sells directly through its website, and through 55 own-brand retail stores, located across the UK. ProCook products are also available in Germany and France with delivery options extending to Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Poland.

St. Modwen Logistics is working with Bromsgrove-based Benniman Construction Group on the build at Gloucester.

Store revenues recover at Superdry, but e-commerce sales drop

Store revenues are recovering at global fashion retailer Superdry which in May reported revenues up 59.8 per cent yearon-year, as Covid closures and restrictions were lifted in key markets.

The recovery in store sales, however, came at the expense of e-commerce revenues which decreased 24 per cent year-on-year, reflecting an element of channel shift back to physical trading and reduced promotional activity, in line with its determination to get customers paying full price for goods.

Superdry CEO, Julian Dunkerton, said: “Despite the ongoing tough trading conditions and turmoil in the market, our focus on full price trading will deliver a strong gross margin improvement for FY22.

“We are conscious of the cost-of-living pressures on consumers, meaning that now, more than ever, we must continue to deliver product that stands for what is important to them: quality, style and sustainability at great value.”

Last December, Superdry revealed a new store concept on Cheltenham’s Promenade shopping street. Branded The Studio, the store opened just after Superdry revealed its new store on Oxford Street in London.

Julian said: “Studio is very subtly branded, a bit more adult. Classic designs which are increasingly sustainably led. We want to show the consumer how far we have come as a brand.”

Secret Sales appoints former ASOS boss as chair

Secret Sales, the non-full-price marketplace for fashion and beauty brands, has appointed Nick Beighton as Chairman. Nick, who most recently held the role of CEO at ASOS, joined as Secret Sales marks yearon-year growth of more than 150 per cent.

Secret Sales is owned by Cheltenhambased Chris Griffin’s LRG Online Ltd. Chris built the world’s most efficient online retail system of its time for Superdry and has reshaped Secret Sales to solve one of retail’s biggest problems: excess stock.

Gloucestershire biotech secures more than £2M investment

Gloucestershire-born biotech Adaptavate has secured £2.16 million investment to scale production of its carbon absorbing plasterboard, Breathaboard.

Amid growing pressure for the construction sector to identify practical ways to reduce embodied carbon in buildings, products that o er significant carbon savings are increasingly prized.

Adaptavate has designed a scalable, carbon sequestering alternative to plasterboard. one of the world’s most widely used building products.

The funding will allow Adaptavate to build a world-first pilot production line, enhance research and development lab facilities and teams, and complete testing and licencing programmes for Breathaboard.

Adaptavate’s already available Breathaplasta product will continue to be marketed through key distribution partners.

The investment round was led by Low Carbon Innovation Fund 2 and Counteract, the world’s first early stage Carbon Removal investor.

Several climate focused funds including Perivoli Innovations and One Planet Capital also participated, alongside well known figureheads from the construction industry.

Adaptavate also secured a grant from Innovate UK in excess of £800,000.