Retailer glams-up with beauty brand swoop
THE Hut Group, the fast-growing online health and lifestyle retailer, has added to its product portfolio with the acquisition of an upmarket haircare brand sold in Boots and Selfridges.
The privately-owned Cheshire company has snapped-up Grow Gorgeous from Canadian company Deciem. Financial terms were not disclosed, and The Hut has not commented.
The purchase of Grow Gorgeous, which has has sales of between £10m and £20m, follows that of Mio Skincare – which is aimed at pregnant women – six months ago.
The Hut Group, founded by Lancashire-born entrepreneur Matt Moulding, has already become one of the UK’s most valuable digital businesses. It is backed by some of the leading names in retail including former Tesco chief Sir Terry Leahy and ex-M&S boss Lord Rose. Shareholders also include US buyout firm KKR.
The company operates 26 websites such as Myprotein, Lookfantastic, Exantediet and Mybag and is seeing growing international traction.
Last year The Hut said it expected its growth would see it create 2,000 jobs in the North West over next three years. A giant new warehouse, just off the M62 at Warrington is expected to be operational soon.
In 2014, the company reported underlying profits up 50% to £22.6m on sales of £244m, a figure which included a 74% rise in international sales.
