E-commerce Mail Order And High Street Retailer For Sale - Sussex, United Kingdom

Asking price: £100,000

Sales revenue: £365,000

Business description: E-commerce, Mail-order and High Street Retailer of Men’s Gifts Founded on the difficulties everyone has of buying great gifts for men, this business was originally built around a retail outlet opened in 1997. This was swiftly followed by the development of a mail order catalogue to enable people from all over the UK visiting the retail outlet to purchase gifts from the comfort of their own home and not surprisingly followed by the launch of an e-commerce website. As a result this business is arguably one of the leading retailers of men’s gifts in the UK. Still based in its retail premises - a prominent retail location in Sussex – with mail order and e-commerce representing approximately two thirds of the overall turnover, this business is the place to go for anyone looking for inspiration for a gift for the man in their life. From all kinds of sports gifts, men’s accessories, drinking gifts, gifts for outdoor pursuits, right through to gifts for in the house or in the garden – you name it this business has it available. It is particularly well known for its expertise and knowledge of telescopes and binoculars and gas and masonry barbecues. With all year round availability across its full range and boasting some of the most competitive prices, this company retails virtually all of the top brands with a range to suit most budgets. With many years experience in sales, this company has established an enviable reputation for reliability and competitiveness as well as a friendly service. It has well established relationships with its supplier base which has helped to ensure that product quality and availability is never compromised and that customers receive the highest possible quality of service including a 90 day ‘no quibble’ returns policy. As a result this business consistently achieves high levels of customer satisfaction – a level as high as 98% for the Amazon based activity it has undertaken in the past. This high standard of service is matched by the operation of the business itself achieving very prompt delivery of product from its e-commerce and mail order operations. If it’s on the website it’s generally in stock with order fulfillment direct from its retail outlet - and if it isn’t readily available, then the business will do whatever is required to get it. As a result of this very high level of customer service this business has developed a strong and extensive loyal base of customers throughout the UK. This business is widely acknowledged as an excellent brand name within its sector. With turnover for the financial year ending February 2009 of almost £365,000 generating gross margins of approximately 45%, this represents an excellent acquisition opportunity for an existing operator to extend their presence in the men’s gift market or for a new entrant to establish an excellent foothold in the sector by acquiring a business with a ‘clicks and mortar’ base with tremendous potential and a history of strong growth. Financial information: The business is offered for sale as a going concern. All financial discussions will take place directly between the vendor and all interested parties under the auspices of Turner Butler. Turnover for the financial year ending February 2009 was almost £365,000 generating gross margins of approximately 45%. The Asking Price of £100,000 is for a sale of the shares in the limited company based on a Balance Sheet value of £15,000.

Years established: 1997

Employees: The current Owners, a Husband and Wife team are responsible for the day-to-day running of the business with ad hoc support staff recruited for key trading periods – Christmas etc.

Property : Leasehold

Lease terms: The premises are leased with the current agreement due to expire in June 2013. Rent is approximately £24,500 per annum. Rates are slightly in excess of £10,200 per annum.

Location: Located in a pedestrianised precinct, this business operates from a prominent secondary retail location of approximately 2,500 square feet across two floors with the Ground Floor split almost equally between the retail and mail order operations. The first floor is also used for mail order fulfilment as well as storage of stock. The premises are leased with the current agreement due to expire in June 2013. Rent is approximately £24,500 per annum. Rates are slightly in excess of £10,200 per annum. The store is open between 9.00 am and 5.30pm Monday to Saturday inclusive and between 10.30 am and 3.30 pm on Sundays.

Competition / Market: With a very well established retail outlet benefiting from high levels of awareness from passing traffic this business has little need for local area marketing concentrating its efforts on mail order and web marketing. The business produces a full colour mail order catalogue – with a print run of approximately 38,000 mailed to a very well managed database of customers which is cleaned on a regular basis. Its main web marketing activity is targeted at maintaining high listings in all of the major search engines through good use of search engine optimisation techniques for all appropriate search terms as well as Google adword sponsorship. The business also operates through other major web retailers including Amazon.

Support & training: The Owners will provide full business familiarisation, training and handover, covering all aspects of the business, to ensure a smooth transfer to new Owners.

Reasons for selling: Having run the business for the past eleven years, the current Owners feel the time is right to pass the business on to new Owners to take this company on to the next stage.