Ultimate Products targets £100m in three years

ULTIMATE Products is enjoying a record half year of turnover and profits as its strategy of moving from a general product importer to accumulating its own brands is paying off.

The company, headquartered in a landmark former textile mill in Chadderton near Oldham, is preparing to relaunch houseware products brand Progress, a Lancastrian brand dating back to the 1930s, at the Exclusively Housewares trade fair at the Business Design Centre in London in June.

Progress, which it acquired from the administrators to PCS Brands in 2015, sells houseware products primarily for the kitchen, such as food preperation items and mixing bowls.

Ultimate Products revenues in the half year to the end of January 2016 jumped 20.7% to £42m are they are expected to hit between £76-78m for the full year.

Recurring EBITDA was up 45.7% to £5.1m (2015: £3.5m) while pre-tax profit increased 90.9% to £4.2m (2015: £2.2m).

Managing director Andrew Gossage told TheBusinessDesk that the continued effect of the company’s change in strategy and its focus on brands would take turnover to over £100m in the next three years.

He said: “Back in 2013 we had been a sourcing business and general importer. That served us well but then life got tougher as retailers have their own sourcing capabilities so we decided to focus on the brands we had accumulated.

“Those brands are predominantly British heritage brands that we have bought out of distressed situations. The Progress brand has a very strong heritage. We are relaunching it this month but have already had a lot of interest. It will be design and colour led with innovative products.”

The company’s Salter NutriPro 1000, a health blender which beat higher-priced rival products the Nutribullet and the Nutri Ninja to be awarded Best Buy by BBC2’s consumer affairs programme What to Buy and Why, was a stand-out success with 92,000 units sold over the six month period.

Simon Showman, Ultimate Products founder and chief executive, said:“Focusing on our brands, such as Beldray, Salter, intempo and Constellation, brings increased sales through repeat orders leading to stronger margins as we keep a control of our overheads.”

Although the company is not reliant on the acquisition of more brands to make its £100m target, it is currently in talks to acquire another heritage brand that dates back to the 19th century.

Gossage said: “We are in early stage discussions. We look for brands from adminsitrators that others may have over looked – I do expect that we will continue to pick up brands in that way.”

The group continues to win new business from major retailers such as Tesco and Morrisons and the fast-growth discounters including Aldi, The Range and locally Liverpool’s TJ Morris and Burnley-based The Original Factory Shop and has just added Halfords to that list.

Showman added: “Deepening our relationships with our existing customers – we now have over 300 retailer groups – is a substantial opportunity. This includes growing alongside the discounters, whom we already count amongst our most important customers and deepening our relationships with the major UK supermarkets. Online growth is another major current area of growth – our branded model means we can now serve this channel more effectively than ever before.”

The company has also entered a seven-year lease on a 240,000 sq ft warehouse neighbouring its existing premises.

Ultimate Products is owed by its management team after they bought out private equity backer LDC in 2014.

It was founded by Showman and Barry Franks in 1997. Franks remains a shareholder and also owns Manor Mill, where the business is based.

The business employs 155 people at Manor Mill and a further 30 at its base in the Chinese city of Guangzhou.

It supplies a wide range of homewares, from cups and saucers to blenders and vacuum cleaners, electrical goods such as mobile phone chargers and speakers as well as  luggage. Its core brands include  Beldray, Intempo, Russell Hobbs and Salter, while there are a further 30 or so other brands and licenses.