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Gardners Books has seen its annual turnover soar 30% as the wholesaler grows into more of a “global business”.
Accounts for the year to the end of February 2017 filed on Companies House have revealed turnover was £268.7m, up 30% year-on-year, while profit for the financial year more than doubled from £5.7m to £12.3m.
Sales in the UK were up 9.4% to £154.2m, while overseas revenue grew significantly, up 75.7% to £114.5m.
A note in the accounts said the company was “very pleased” in its growth in turnover during the year, “particularly in the overseas market”, which was partly down to favourable exchange rates following the drop in the value of the pound after the Brexit vote in June 2016 and also because of “previous investments coming into fruition”.
Jonathan Little, managing director of Gardners Books, told The Bookseller: “We have been investing in the company over a number of years, it doesn’t happen overnight. We have invested in the capability of the business, in the range of products we can hold and the experience we have got. We turned 30 years-old last year and we have got a lot of experience on our side. We have got some great people working in the business helping us drive and push forward.”
He added that the Eastbourne-based firm had also worked hard to tighten up its international shipping times and making it sure it always has an excellent availability of stock and did a growing trade in music and other media such as DVDs as well as books.
While business is generally buoyant, Little said that the library supply market was “challenging” due to local authority cuts, “which only seem to be going in one direction”. Instead the firm's Askews library supply arm is focussing more on the higher academic sector, he said.
Looking forward, Little said that it was currently unclear what impact Brexit might have on the company. “While any impact on consumer spending would obviously be worrying, it may also present some opportunities,” he said. “But at the moment we just don’t know, until the dust is settled and an agreement is worked out.”
However, the Gardners chief was bullish about the future. “It is never easy, but there are opportunities there if you look for them,” he said. “We have always been an ambitious outfit and we try to find solutions to problems. We have gone from being a small book wholesaler to growing the media side. Physical books are still very much in demand. You can buy anything in the world and have it tomorrow and it is because of that we are becoming a more global business.”