Specialist retailer J&S revs up with £3m investment
AN AMBITIOUS Cheshire company is racing into a new era after opening a flagship store and head office in its home town after a £3m investment.
J&S Accessories which has grown from a single shop in Northwich to a £17m turnover nationwide chain of 12 stores spanning from Scotland to Portsmouth, has opened its 32,000sq ft base on the A556 between Chester and Northwich after a funding deal with Royal Bank of Scotland Corporate and Institutional Banking team in Liverpool.
The finance helped J&S, which sells everything from motorbikes to helmets, leathers and other accessories buy a 6.5 acre site and then build the new destination showroom.
Recently it has developed its own accessories brands include Oxford, Frank Thomas and Dr Bike.
Its expansion follows J&S’s acquisition last year year of the brand portfolio and stock of Thomas Sports Group – a competitor which went into administration – together with a purpose-built freehold distribution warehouse in Finedon, Northamptonshire.
Managing director Peter Cook, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity from both a strategic and geographical perspective and will provide our customers with a one-stop motorcycling store.
“The investment allows us to combine two of our current sites into a new flagship store; it will also serve to protect the existing workforce in the current challenging retail environment.
“Even in the challenging times we are in, you have to look to grow the business – and the new destination store is part of that. The acquisition last year of Thomas brought a number of attractive brands which has helped significantly improve our gross margin.”
John Csizmadia, relationship director at RBS CIB Liverpool, said: “This acquisition is a fantastic opportunity for J&S to develop a flagship store, a development which we have every confidence will be well received by the market and prove to be a huge success.
“J&S has a strong growth story and we look forward to continuing to work with them far into the future.”
