Turnover tops £200m at stairlift business
Annual turnover at Yorkshire-based Acorn Stairlifts has topped the £200m mark for the first time.
The firm’s financial statement for the year to the end of September 2017 shows the international business made £211.8m, up by 19.5% on the £177.2m it made the previous year.
It gave the company a record profit after tax of more than £17.1m, up from £16.6m in 2016.
Although Acorn manufactures all its stairlifts in the UK, with two factories in West Yorkshire and another in Scotland, the majority are sold overseas where it has worked to open up new markets.
The latest figures show that non-UK sales accounted for 70.9% of its revenue in 2017 up from 67.7% the previous year.
The business, which also celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2017, exports its stairlifts to more than 80 countries. It has wholly-owned subsidiaries operating in Germany, Italy, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and its largest overseas market, North America. Its performance was boosted by a strong US Dollar during the period covered by the latest figures.
Meanwhile, the company now employs almost 1,500 people worldwide, with more than 500 working at its head offices and factory at Steeton, near Keighley.
Acorn manufactures more than 70,000 stairlifts per year at its UK factories, the majority sold direct to the public. It also installs and services its own stairlifts through a network of directly-employed engineers.
Acorn’s finance director, Joanne Richardson, said: “This latest set of annual figures is very encouraging, especially breaking through the £200m barrier in terms of turnover during our 25th anniversary year. These results reflect Acorn’s ongoing commitment to building growth through investment both here in the UK and in overseas markets for our British-made stairlifts.
“Our performance in North America, where we have worked hard to become the clear market leader for home stairlifts, has been particularly strong during the reporting period, undoubtedly helped by the strength of the dollar.
“Our mission as a growing global business is simply to be ‘the best stairlift provider in the world’ and these figures demonstrate significant progress towards that goal.”
