DCS praises LinkedIn for 2010 boom
A BUSY Christmas and the social networking site LinkedIn helped Stratford-upon-Avon health and beauty distributor DCS Europe to a record £125.6m turnover in 2010.
December sales were 14% up, said chief executive Denys Shortt, with Christmas gift sets selling well in stores such as Debenhams and other DCS retail customers.
Mr Shortt said sales in 2010 grew in all DCS divisions, delivering a 7% improvement to £125.6m, making it the best year in DCS history. DCS has shown growth in every year since it started in 1994. Figures for 2009 showed the group made a profit of £1.3m, double that achieved the previous year.
DCS Export sales in 2010 increased 37% from £9m to £12.3m in 2010 , due in part to DCS’s innovative use of the internet, and in particular the business-focused social networking site LinkedIn.
Mr Shortt said: “Our exports have been simply ballistic. We use LinkedIn in a very big way to push out our message about what we do. It’s accounted for at least £1m of business this year. We are sending at least one container a day from our Stratford base – which proves you don’t need to be near a port or in London to build a successful export business.”
DCS employs 200 people at its packaging division’s Stratford base. Other brands owned by the group include discount store concept Poundzone and design services division DCS Creative.
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The company kept overseas missions to scout new markets to a minimum, Mr Shortt told TheBusinessDesk.com: “We take the view that if there’s a buyer out there in the world they’re probably on the internet, so that’s where we find them. I don’t see the point in going all the way to Beijing in the hope that you’ll happen to bump into a potential customer.”
“We are delighted with the figures as we continue to execute our strategy for growth and we see no reason why this should not continue into 2011.”
“2010 has seen a huge increase in our repacking business DCS Packaging – from 3,000 floor displays repacked in 2009 to more than 14,000 in 2010.
“We have seen excellent growth in Egypt, Dubai and other parts of the Middle East. Our Enliven brand is now a market leader in Iraq and we even have a branded Enliven van in Baghdad.”
Denys Shortt is to become Chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
He said: “The aim of the LEP is to promote business growth in our region and DCS is a perfect example of a company growing during tough times. I can see opportunities for businesses to grow in our region but they need to develop the right strategy, always be very customer friendly and have a laser-like focus on growing sales.”
