Own Brand Publications and Mail Order Company For Sale

Business description

This business, founded some 20 years ago by the current vendors, was set up initially to support the delivery of the AEB "A" Level Physical Education syllabus. It has since grown to encompass Physical Education and Sport Studies for all syllabuses at AS / A2 Levels, BTEC, GCSE and Primary Schools. In addition this company supports many allied subjects such as Leisure and Tourism, Physiotherapy, Travel and Public Services. The company now offers a comprehensive range of resources for classroom delivery for Primary right through to Higher Education with its own brand publications as well as offering a full range of books from other recognised publishers.

There are two distinct parts to the business, Mail Order and In-House Publications.

Mail Order- This involves the retailing of the company’s own brand titles and currently a further one thousand titles sourced from over fifty respected publishers. These resources include books, DVD’s, CD-Roms, Wall Charts and Book Jacket services. About 80% of orders are fulfilled using third parties (i..e. shipped direct from publisher/distributor) with the remaining 20% being delivered from stock (current stock figures circa £16,000).

In house Publications- The company is proud to publish its own resources in the form of books, DVD’s and CD-Roms. The brand is well established and has excellent recognition within the industry. The current range is in excess of twenty titles with a further 8 titles due to be published within the next 12 months. All work is done in house, the business creates its own DVD footage as well as designing/writing/developing all such necessary resources.

The business has built up a very desirable customer base over the years. Total customer numbers are circa 8000. These include Primary Schools, Secondary Schools/Colleges/ Higher Educational Establishments as well as book shops and private clients. These clients are predominantly based within the UK. In saying that the business does do a small amount of international business.

Technology/Equipment:

The business utilises the SAGE line 50 financial package and also uses the Datapower storage package which creates catalogues/order forms/websites. The website has a tracker, is fully interactive and supports Paypal secure online transactions. All data is backed up on a daily basis on one of two servers the business has.

In addition to this the business has all the necessary hardware/software packages to enable it to produce high quality multi-media in-house. Furthermore it also has a franking machine such is the volume of postal work it undertakes.

Property information

Location:

There are no premises associated with the sale. The business operates from a home office environment. In saying that significant expense has been incurred in terms of IT, systems and procedures over the years to ensure the business is run effectively.

Other information

Expansion potential:

There are many growth opportunities available to a new owner. The majority of business is currently based within England, Wales and Northern Ireland. There is scope to expand the operation to serve Scotland and Europe. Further advertising and marketing would certainly fuel this and would also enable the business to sell more advertising space within its own catalogues, generating additional revenues. “E” commerce represents a large growth area. The business has only recently addressed this issue and already has over one thousand clients keen to trade this way with a further six thousand contacts that need to be developed. There is also the opportunity to develop an E-Bay presence. This will not only increase sales, it will also increase efficiency within the business.

Competition / Market:

The business is very active in the exhibitions arena (approx seven per year) and this activity is supported with a highly informative and up to date website, and an extensive publications catalogue. The business also mailshots clients and has a presence on Amazon.

Support & training:

The owners will provide full business familiarisation, training and handover and are offering the business for sale as a going concern with further significant growth potential. They are happy to negotiate a suitable time period with the new owners. The vendors plan to continue writing/producing resource for the sector and would be prepared to work with any new owners to support this and even exhibit on their behalf if so required.

Reasons for selling:

This is a genuine retirement sale.

Trading hours:

Monday – Friday: 0900-1700

Contact the seller