Keen angler Darren Bailey left school at 16 in the hope of making money doing something he loved.
Thirty years on from taking a job in a fishing tackle shop in Norwich, he is chief executive of Angling Direct, a rapidly growing retail business that made its stock market debut a year ago.
At a time of great uncertainty on Britain’s high streets, with some of the best known names in retail struggling or going bust, Angling Direct is opening more shops. Its 23rd shop will open its doors to customers in Guildford on 1 September, soon to be followed by a 24th store in Peterborough. The company has identified another 20 other popular fishing locations for future stores.
“It’s a tactile product,” Bailey explains. “People like to see it, touch it, feel it. They might wait until a later date to buy it online but they still want to see the products in the shops.”
Combined online and store sales jumped 56% to £21.9m in the six months to 31 July, despite extreme weather conditions with the Beast from the East and the prolonged heatwave, which might deter even the most dedicated anglers.
The number of shoppers visiting stores did dip over the period, by about 2%, but like-for-like sales – stripping out sales at shops open for less than a year – rose 4.2% as the average customer spend increased.
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