Wholesaler aims for £100m turnover as discount retail sector booms
A Sheffield wholesaler is aiming to break the £100m turnover barrier and double its workforce as it capitalises on a booming discount retail sector.
Pricecheck, which supplies discount stores including Poundland, B&M and Home Bargains, employs 130 staff at its Swallownest headquarters, and has revenues of £74m, up more than a third on last year.
The company says it is on track to double its workforce to 200 staff in less than five years, thanks to the rapid international growth of the discount retail sector.
The firm is set to boost revenues to £100m by 2020 after the business secured an additional 40,000 sq ft of warehouse space on Stevenson Road, Attercliffe, seven miles away from its HQ.
A £7.5m finance package from Lloyds Bank will support the company’s investment, kitting the new site out with forklifts, pallet racking and stock for the firm to trade internationally.
Pricecheck has seen its growth accelerate since Lloyds Bank supported its move to the firm’s current base in 2016, when it had 80 staff and revenues of £43.5m.
Lee Walker, finance director at Pricecheck, said: “Shoppers in the UK and abroad feel less stigma about buying from discount stores these days, a trend that’s supported our fast growth and one we expect to continue.
“Growing exports has been core to our strategy in the last few years too. Now, almost half of our revenue comes from overseas. We sell to over 75 countries globally, supplying wholesalers and retailers in Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and Oceania.
“With the new warehouse accommodation and finance from Lloyds Bank, we’re now in an excellent position to move forward with our growth plans, and to develop the firm to a scale that gives us a real competitive advantage in the market.”
Pricecheck, which was founded by the parents of joint managing directors, Mark Lythe and Debbie Harrison, sources health and beauty, pet supplies and food and drink stock from across the UK and the continent.
Its workforce, largely recruited from the region’s universities, include employees that are fluent in eight different languages, supporting Pricecheck’s multinational activities.
Mark Butterworth, relationship director, Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “It’s been exciting to see the rapid growth of Pricecheck in the last few years.
“The firm has capitalised on the growth of the discount sector and has established itself as a trusted trading partner for retailers around the world, building a business with a truly global reach.”
