What began as a start-up in Bath back in 2002, Lovehoney has grown into a global business worth £850m.
Last month, the sex toy retailer merged with German competitor WOW Tech Group to form the Lovehoney Group.
The announced tie-up between the two firms also includes Amorana, a fast-growing Swiss sexual well-being retailer acquired by Lovehoney in September 2020.
How has Lovehoney come so far in less than 20 years? BusinessLive looks at the facts.
How did it start?
in 2002, reports the Daily Telegraph, after a trip to London's Erotica show.
The pair decided to invest £4,500 each to set up the website and buy £1,500 worth of stock.
Slateford, a former member of the electronic duo DNA best known for their 1990s remixes of Suzanne Vega's Tom’s Diner and Shocked for Kylie Minogue, said a few years later: “We thought, ‘What are we getting ourselves into?’ I remember we ordered our first load of stock and we were unpacking it thinking ‘Jesus...’, writes
“But you quickly become immune to what you’re selling, almost. It’s just another product. We forget the shock value of it.”
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They sold over 1,000 toys per month in their first year of trading, generating £37,000 in revenue, in 2017.
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What's the USP?
Lovehoney set out to re-brand sex toys from something associated with the porn industry into a sexual wellbeing brand for the masses.
In 2011, it branded itself as the sexual happiness people and launched in the US.
It got mainstream attention after featuring in the Channel 4 2012 documentary More Sex Please, We're British and partnered with author EL James for a range inspired by her blockbuster novel Fifty Shades of Grey.
They also featured in a 2017 episode of Channel 4’s with comedian Kathryn Ryan.
The pair met The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh at a Buckingham Palace Garden Party after being honoured with their first Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2016.
How successful is it?
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The formation of the Lovehoney Group last month makes it the world's largest online adult retailer with 650 staff globally.
Lovehoney in its own right is the 海角视频’s biggest online adult retailer and has eight other websites globally including US, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, EU, Canada and New Zealand.
It has a global customer base of 2.2 million people and still has a 300-strong workforce in Bath.
The company was listed as one of the South West’s fastest-growing exporters earlier this year, with overseas sales of its sex toys and lingerie reaching £56.3m before the start of the pandemic.
Lovehoney has also received two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, including in April 2021 for six years of outstanding continuous growth in overseas sales.
Lovehoney founders Richard Longhurst and Neal Slateford will retain minority stakes in the enlarged business and sit on its board of directors.
Swiss private equity firm Telemos Capital, bought a majority stake in Lovehoney in 2018.