Hush sales surge as e-tail and concessions prove strong

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 6, 2020

Fashion brand Hush managed to shake off the difficult UK retail environment in its most recent financial year with the firm’s latest set of accounts showing a 37% revenue rise in the 12 months to March 30 2019.

It meant the company recorded revenues of £40.8 million for the 52 weeks, a result that helped lift its gross profit by a healthy 25% to £17.7 million. But it wasn’t all good news as operating profit was down 14% to £4.7 million and pre-tax profit dropped 13%, also to £4.7 million.

However, the drop was easy to explain as it was partly due to a change in the company’s accounting period, as well as increased marketing costs because of that calendar shift.

The fashion and lifestyle label, which sells mainly through its own website as well as concessions in John Lewis and pop-ups, said it was pleased with the performance during the year, which was in line with its expectations after it had invested in both staff and marketing.

And there’s no denying that the significant growth in its sales, which came both through its own retail channel and the concessions, was impressive in a difficult period for the UK retail sector. It’s particularly exposed to the chill winds of the UK retail downturn given that the vast majority of its sales are sourced from its domestic market.

The company said its performance was driven by increasing customer awareness of the brand, as well as effective marketing and new customer acquisition. In fact, it reported a 15% increase in new customer acquisition for the period and its customer database grew by 26%. The opening of new concessions also helped.