Sweet smell of success as cleaning firm’s sales soar more than 1,000%

A home cleaning company has seen sales and profits surge in the past year and is targeting maintaining its stellar performance in the current year.

Fabulosa, a family-run firm with its head office and two factory locations in Crewe and a third in Shropshire, recorded record figures last year.

Sales of £30m were more than 1,000 per cent ahead of the previous year, and the firm is eyeing £40m of sales in 2021.

EBITDA mirrored the incredible sales performance, rising from £815,000 in 2019, to £5m last year.

Fabulosa said its highly innovative approach to fragrance and product development has meant that in less than two years the family founded and managed disinfectant brand has taken the UK market by storm, verified by Kantar which identify Fabulosa as “the fastest growing disinfectant brand of 2020” with market share gains from Dettol and Zoflora (Kantar, 2021).

Founded by household products manufacturer Mike Sharpe, and his son and daughter-in-law James and Jennifer Sharpe, the company’s ability to tap into consumer needs has seen Fabulosa growing exponentially in its first years of operation, and the brand’s reach now extends to Europe, Australia, New Zealand and the UAE.

Fabulosa says it has injected new life into the mature household cleaning category, selling more than 50 million products and launching more than 100 fragrances, custom made by Fragrance Oils International who are owned by the world’s largest perfumery and fragrance specialist Givaudan based in Geneva.

Sales growth was made up of discounter and also its own e-commerce channel sales – which saw more than 88,000 web orders since January 2020.

Its core ranges run across a range of categories, including surface care (multi-purpose and task specific ready to use sprays, concentrated disinfectants and polishes), air care (air freshener shock cans, foam fresheners and Fab-a-Loos) and laundry care (laundry cleanser, washing machine cleaners and spray & wear).

Fabulosa has a fast moving schedule of seasonal product launches throughout the year, plus a consistent pipeline of on-trend fragrance collections to complement seasonal and core ranges.

It has also reported a significant increase in sales since the start of 2021, and is confident the upward trajectory shows no signs of abating.

The company’s position is further consolidated with the appointment of a highly experienced group marketing director, Adam Burnett, who joined the business at the end of 2020 with an impressive grocery and retail background.

Adam will be overseeing the heavyweight marketing investment, which is scheduled for Spring 2021 onwards to include an engaging TV campaign, launch of a new e-commerce website, improved social media and a hard working consumer and trade media pr campaign.

James Sharpe, co-founder and managing director, who first identified the gap in the market, said: “Cleaning products have benefited from enhanced space and ranges in store in 2020 and into 2021, but we believe as retailers begin to rationalise and consolidate again, only the strongest brands with clear value for money and with a clear USP will survive.

“Fabulosa prides itself on developing strong relationships with suppliers, so we are able to accommodate all increased demand as is demonstrated by our turnover growth.

“Obviously, consumers are focused on cleaning and hygiene more than ever since the pandemic started in the UK in March 2020. Consumers have focused more on consistent and regular cleaning tasks with multi-purpose products that clean and disinfect, rather than the weekly deep clean.

“As we move into Spring 2021, we predict people will return to a more task specific, deep cleaning regime around the home.”

Fabulosa has responded to this new focus with the development of task specific products as well as continuing to produce popular multi-purpose cleaners. Its latest ranges are designed to reinvigorate, unloved cleaning categories by twinning highly attractive fragrances with potent efficacy.

James added: “2020 was a dark year, but we’ve proven that cleaning doesn’t need to be a drag. The exciting thing is – we’ve not even started yet. There is so much more to come.”