UK’s top retailer delivers strong performance despite challenging landscape

The UK’s leading fishing tackle retail chain delivered a strong performance in its last financial year with revenue growth of 11.9% to £91.3m despite what it described as ongoing challenges in the broader consumer landscape.

Angling Direct saw sales growth both instore and online in its UK business accelerate to 11.7% compared to 9% in the previous year and 7.1% higher on a like-for-like basis.

It says that the performance reflected the success of several initiatives, including improved third party ranging and availability, an increasingly compelling own brand offer and growth of the MyAD omni-channel customer loyalty club to 409,000 subscribers, an increase of 86% since January 2024 (220,000).

UK like-for-like store sales grew 6.0%, benefiting from increased footfall and higher transaction volumes. The company accelerated its new store opening programme through the year, utilising its strong balance sheet to open three new stores in Cannock, Newark and Derby with the acquisition of a further three businesses. These new stores, alongside those opened in the 2024 financial year, contributed an additional £4m of sales. The company now operates 53 stores across England and Wales.

UK online sales increased by 8.4%, driven by higher unique customers and the ongoing success of the MyAD loyalty and repeat purchase membership model.

Outside the UK, the group’s European online sales increased 7.1% to £4.6m (£4.3m) with a continued focus on its key markets of Germany and the Netherlands. The period saw the opening of the group’s first European store in Utrecht in the Netherlands.

Steve Crowe, CEO of Angling Direct, said: “FY25 marks another year of significant progress against our medium-term objectives with growth delivered both in stores and online. The continued expansion of our UK footprint combined with the growing momentum of our MyAD customer loyalty club, provides a clear line of sight to achieving our medium-term revenue and adjusted EBITDA targets of £100m and £6m, respectively.

“We are proud to have delivered this strong performance against a highly challenging market backdrop and our sustained growth, despite persistent macro headwinds, demonstrates the resilient nature of our business model and demand for our products from a steadily growing customer base.

“This strong performance is testament to the hard work of our dedicated team and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for all of their efforts. The angling sector remains highly active and our loyal customer base continues to shop with Angling Direct to take advantage of our colleagues’ extensive knowledge and our deep range of own brand and third party products.

“Looking ahead, our success to date serves to demonstrate that we are well-positioned to withstand the continuing challenges in the wider economy and we have plans in place to mitigate the unforeseen impact of national insurance alongside the continued national living wage increases. As a result, I am excited by the opportunity before us to continue to take share in both the UK and in Europe.

“This financial year is a pivotal one in our European journey as we annualise the opening of the Utrecht store ahead of the peak fishing season.”