Hotter Shoes group raises £4.3m to accelerate growth strategy

Unbound Group, owner of Skelmersdale-based Hotter Shoes, has raised around £4.3m through a conditional placing, subscription offer and open offer

Approximately £3.3m was raised via a placing and the subscription, and up to approximately £1m was raised via an open offer.

The fund raising was not underwritten. Some of the group’s directors participated in the placing and subscription offer.

The proceeds will be used to accelerate the group’s growth strategy and boost profitability, primarily by funding investment in four key areas.

These are driving digital connection with its target customer base by growing the partner brand strategy, reactivating dormant retail customers through the expansion of the group’s garden centre concession model portfolio, investing in technology to improve the customer experience, deliver cost efficiencies and facilitate accelerated scalable growth, and increasing inventory effectiveness by utilising European suppliers with shorter lead time, procurement of design-led finished and own-brand goods.

Unbound revealed that, as part of its expansion beyond Hotter Shoes, starting from July 28. 2022, Unbound will on-board at least 14 partner brands, which will be sold on its new Unbound platform online.

The group is working with its partner brands to determine launch dates for each brand, the brands listed will launch between July 2022 and October 2022.

At the point of initial launch there will be seven brands live on site, which will be followed by a further autumn/winter launch in September 2022.