Online retailer sets £10m sales target
ONLINE retailer gettingpersonal.co.uk is targeting £10m turnover after a 90% surge in sales in the last year to £6.3m.
Bosses at the Altrincham-based company have “not ruled out” selling a stake to a private equity house to help them accelerate the company’s growth.
Co-founder Giles Harridge said: “Our minds are always open to suggestions, and we have taken some corporate finance advice, because the opportunities for this company are terrific – for example we don’t fulfil overseas – we turn away orders from the US and Europe which is insane really.
“We’re a privately-owned business, growing all the time and with no borrowings. We are fairly pragmatic – if the right offer was to come along we would look at it very seriously.
“From a management team perspective we are very tight and we’d have to take a view because these transactions can be quite distracting. We can’t take our eyes off the core business – particularly in the run-up to Christmas, which for us begins on August 1.
Mr Harridge, a former executive with ITIS, the vehicle information and tracking company, and friend John Smith, a former marketing director at a telecoms business, launched gettingpersonal in 2005.
The pair originally met at ante-natal classes and set up a consultancy company, Clear Experience.
Having launched the business with a single product range – namely a personalised calendar – the company now offers a huge range of traditional gifts, personalised gifts and also greetings cards.
Gettingpersonal now employs around 30 people at its head office and warehouse in Wythenshawe.
Mr Harridge says the foray into cards – where it is taking on Moonpig, has been another success: “Outside of Christmas, June was our busiest-ever month – Father’s Day was incredibly good for us. Personalised cards is a big growth area for us.”
Gettingpersonal has seen its sales grow from £1.8m in 2007, to £3.2m in 2008 and £6.3m this year. Mr Harridge believes a £10m target is an “achievable” goal for the year to next April.
