Stairlift business on the up despite rising cost of energy and raw materials
Acorn Stairlifts, a mobility company and manufacturer headquartered in West Yorkshire, says it is continuing to perform strongly despite significant increases in operating costs.
Newly-published figures from Acorn which cover the year ending 30 September 2023 show an annual turnover of £255.8m, up by £10.4m on the previous year’s trading.
However, profit after tax was down at just over £48m, compared to £50.1m the previous year.
The business explains this reflects the increased operating costs it has absorbed – including the costs of energy and raw materials – to run its UK factories and build its stairlifts.
Acorn Stairlifts are sold in around 110 countries worldwide and are manufactured at two factories in West Yorkshire and another in Scotland.
The latest results show that more than two-thirds (67.6%) of Acorn’s total revenue is generated by overseas markets.
As well as its UK home market, the business operates throughout Western Europe, in the USA and Canada, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
The recent opening of a Singapore office means it is now active on five continents.
The total number of people employed by Acorn rose to 1,365, up by 64 on the previous year, as it recruits in support of its continued global expansion.
Joanne Richardson
It recently launched a new global careers website – careers.acornstairlifts.com – with vacancies posted from its operations in the UK and abroad.
Group finance director, Joanne Richardson, said: “Like everyone else, we’ve seen our costs rise significantly in recent years.
“But because we’re a financially strong business, with no debt, we’ve been able to absorb a large part of that cost without passing it on to our customers.
“We’ve also made improvements to our global distribution networks, which mean we can better control the cost of shipping our UK-made stairlifts to Acorn customers around the world.”
Looking ahead, Acorn adds that it is targeting ambitious sales growth in regions where it is already active, such as North America.
The firm also continues to invest in entering new markets around the world where a strong demand for its stairlifts has been identified.
