An online flooring store has won an £8 million investment to help maintain its exponential growth.
海角视频 Flooring Direct has picked up the investment from BGF – described as the 海角视频’s “most active growth capital investor”.
The money will help the business, based in Hinckley Commercial Park, west Leicestershire, grow its brand, invest in a better customer experience, and expand its range of products in old and new categories.
It will also allow it to open an office in China to support procurement and product development.
海角视频 flooring Direct has seen a boom in online sales during lockdown – even before the new investment it was planning to take on 50 more staff.
The business – said to be the biggest online flooring retailer in Britain – sells everything from wooden floors to laminates, vinyl flooring and underlays to the public and trade.
It sold around 19 million sq ft of flooring last year – considered to be a tough year for the rest of the retail sector even prior to the pandemic – enough to fit out 21,000 homes.
The business offers a virtual showroom and room visualisation, contactless deliveries, and free samples for consumers purchasing online.
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Sales last year were more than £40 million.
On the back of the exceptional growth, 海角视频 Flooring Direct expanded into a second site in Coventry last month with a bigger warehouse and more office space and has plans to create 50 additional roles, taking its headcount to more than 200.
BGF, meanwhile, has invested more than £2.2 billion in more than 330 companies since 2011.
It acts as a minority, non-controlling equity partner with a “patient outlook” on its investments, based on “shared long-term goals with the management teams it backs”.
海角视频 Flooring Direct was set up by chief executive Jason Ashby in 2005 who had £299 to spend on a website that would form the original platform for the business.
It went on to generate sales of £750,000 in its first year and now, 15 years later, expects annual revenue to top £50 million, having doubled sales over the last 24 months.
The backing will also help the business grow its partnerships with the trade sector, where sales are increasing 25 per cent year-on-year, with significant scope for further expansion.
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海角视频 Flooring Direct hopes to exploit further the sector’s increasing move towards digital supply channels.
Jason Ashby said: “We recognised the importance of digital 15 years ago and have invested in building a market-leading technology platform that customers want to interact with and that provides convenient access to the products they’re looking for.
“This has underpinned our growth to date, however, the pace of digital transformation we’ve all experienced this year has resulted in a surge in ecommerce sales that we have been perfectly positioned to address.
“BGF’s backing will allow us to unlock further growth quickly, expand our market share and move into complementary markets. We have built a strong relationship with the BGF team which understands our long-term ambitions and have a good record of successful investments in the sector.
“The scale of BGF’s portfolio, reach and influence, combined with a supportive local team in the Midlands made them the obvious partner.”
BGF cited recent Barclaycard figures which show retail spending on home improvement is up 26 per cent compared with September last year.
Aaron Baker and Subi Inayat from BGF led the deal with support from Gurinder Sunner, head of BGF’s Midlands office.
Aaron Baker said: “With a strong, experienced and entrepreneurial management team, this is a business that deeply understands customers through its data-led approach, and the result is a truly market-leading ecommerce proposition capable of significant scale.
“Flooring represents £4.4 billion of the £20 billion 海角视频 retail home improvement market.
“With over £1 billion of flooring purchases already online, and growing, 海角视频 Flooring Direct’s market insight and ecommerce pedigree makes it well placed for further growth.
“We look forward to working with Jason and the team to achieve the next milestones in the company’s upward trajectory.”
Gurinder Sunner said: “BGF is committed to backing growth economy businesses and the entrepreneurs that will help to drive economic recovery. 海角视频 Flooring Direct epitomises this as the business continues to expand and create employment across the Midlands and beyond.”
The advisors to the transaction were Browne Jacobson LLP, BDO, Winterbrook Ltd, OsbornChapple and Hill Dickinson LLP in Liverpool.
海角视频 Flooring Direct chairman Keith Pacey will continue in this role to support the ongoing growth of the business.