Investment sends DRL into the red but sales surge 28%
SALES in white goods retailer DRL – which trades as appliancesonline – soared by 28% to £207.3m in its last financial year, but investment in new staff and infrastructure saw it make a loss of £2.2m, compared with a £3m profit in the previous year.
The Bolton-based company, which sells and delivers fridges, ovens and other kitchen appliances, is trying to buy Comet’s online brand. It said it expects its financial performance to improve “significantly” in the year to the end of March this year as a result of its investment.
The results were impacted by a one-off hit of £2.7m relating to the closure and relocation of the group’s central distribution resource from Radcliffe in Greater Manchester to a purpose-built site in Crewe.
Other investments include upgrades to a large proportion of the group’s fleet and setting up a call centre in Manchester.
Commenting on the results, founder and chief executive John Roberts said: “The year to the end of March was one of unprecedented investment that has positioned the group fantastically well to benefit from the changing dynamic in the market.
“Since the year end, the migration to the internet has increased and Comet has exited the market, creating a huge opportunity that we are now benefiting from.”
He added: “Our investment in our proposition of next day delivery until 10pm was only possible in such an efficient way because of the structural changes we made in our distribution infrastructure.
“This change is now complete and gives us the necessary bandwidth to continue our growth rate at the service levels our customers have every right to demand. Google has recognised our quality of service by ranking us as the most trusted brand in our market and this simply wouldn’t have been possible at the scale we are now at, without the investments made.”
During the year staff numbers increased by nearly 200, from 471 to 670, while staff costs increased from £12.2m to £17.7m.
Mr Roberts concluded:“I am most proud that the business achieved the ranking of 5th best company to work for in the UK from the Sunday Times and that we continue to build a top quality team full of remarkable people right across the DRL group.”
