UK’s largest tackle retailer reports record store and online sales

Record UK sales of £86.4m, driven by both store and online sales plus the establishment of the largest fishing loyalty card in Europe, have been reported by the country’s largest tackle retailer in its set of results for the last financial year.

Angling Direct has delivered what its CEO Steven Crowe describes as a ‘stella’ performance against a strong comparator and ongoing negative pressure on consumer confidence and headwinds.

The east of England-based business increased group revenue by 11.9% to £91.3m, while the UK retail store estate delivered strong revenue growth of 14.2% to £50.7m, fuelled by an accelerated store roll-out programme. In Europe, sales grew 14.1% to £4.9m with continued growth in key territories of the Netherlands and Germany.

An operational highlight included the success of its MyAD loyalty card. It is now established as Europe’s largest fishing club with over 406,000 members, growing by 86% during the last financial year. During the period Angling Direct also completed three UK acquisitions of existing retail businesses alongside the opening of three new UK outlets to take its bricks and mortar count to 53.

Crowe (left) added that plenty of opportunity remains for expansion through both greenfield sites and acquisitions.

“The group increased its UK store and online revenues and profits while also growing revenue and reducing losses in its nascent European operation,” said Crowe. “Our European business continues to scale and I am optimistic about our Dutch store ahead of its first full summer season. We have recently deployed MyAD in the Netherlands to trial the omni-channel method and will keep EU trading under continuing evaluation and, ahead of any potential investment decision, maintaining our rigorous approach.

“We remain vigilant of the external headwinds facing the sector, including inflationary pressures, having absorbed significant additional costs in terms of the national minimum wage and employers’ national insurance increases. We are also monitoring carefully the evolving global tariff landscape, although we do not expect there to be any significant direct impact on the group from these measures.

“Overall, I believe that our experienced team and agile business model positions us well to navigate any challenges in the period ahead as we fully capitalise on the significant opportunity to us in the UK and Europe.

“Delivering on our medium-term targets is at the centre of everything we do and I am pleased with the progress in our first year since setting out our growth plans last May and remain confident in achieving our goals.”

Looking ahead, Angling Direct says that the first quarter of its new year has seen sales growth of 17.1% across the UK and Europe and a continuation of the UK store roll-out strategy with the opening of its latest outlet in Chester,.

“In Europe, management remains focused on controlled growth of the digital business and is well placed to accelerate new customer acquisition in the Netherlands store as it enters its peak trading season.

“To mitigate the impact of labour costs, Angling Direct has committed to strategic investment on shelf digital labelling technology, enabling further development in its dynamic retail pricing strategy.”