Jacobson Group cuts losses following account wins

MAJOR account wins combined with a stock reduction programme have helped the owner of the Gola trainers brand increase its turnover and halve its losses.

Rossendale-based Jacobson Group – which also owns Lotus which is the oldest British footwear make – saw its turnover climb 8% to £58m in the year to September 2009 from £53.9m last time.

Over the same period, it cut its pretax losses to £1.3m from £3.4m in 2008.

Over the year, the Jacobson family who own the business injected around £2m of their own money into the company.

The company’s consolidated financial statements record: “The results for the year do not fully reflect the improvements made within the business and mask the suppression of gross margins brought about by the untimely withdrawal of foreign exchange facilities while renegotiation of the group’s banking facilities were in progress…

“Trading results have continued to improve following the year end and the board of directors is confidently predicting improved results for the year ending September 30, 2010.”

Finance director David Green told TheBusinessDesk.com: “Over the past couple of years, we’ve had to make a lot of changes to the business in response to what’s going on in the market place.

“Last year, we were in a position to halve our losses.

“This resulted after we took some drastic steps to reduce our stock levels and that has stood us in good stead going forward.

“We have also made some great breakthroughs by winning major new accounts.

“In the year to date, we have seen some better results and put on some turnover – and this has been achieved by looking long and hard at the way the business operates and creating something that is far more efficient.”

The business, which has seen the number of staff it employs over the past year fall from 302 to 279 – clothing and bags in addition to footwear to major High Street retailers as well as independent shops.