Wren surges towards £1b annual sales
WREN Kitchens generated its strongest growth to date in 2021, with sales closing in on the £1 billion mark after a 30 per cent uplift.
The northern Lincolnshire manufacturing-to-retail giant recorded turnover at £916.5 million, up from £703.1 million in 2020. And employee numbers have spiralled alongside the numbers, with almost 7,000 people now working for the Barton-headquartered operation.
Pre-tax profits also passed a new milestone of £100 million, up 34 per cent year-on-year.
It comes amid huge expansion with new production facilities being brought online in the Humber region, while additional showrooms emerge in the UK and US.
And it was a period beset by interruption to sales once again, with the first three months of the year seeing its branches closed as Covid measures were reintroduced.
The in-house development of the firm’s digital design platform was pushed to the fore as “customers were able to continue their home improvement projects without
delay,” - growth was double that seen in 2020 when coronavirus first hit.
Mark Pullan, managing director, said: “The result is a testament to the fortitude of the team and whilst the Covid pandemic has presented a huge number of challenges, the Wren family has continued to grow and the average number of team members in 2021 reacthed 6,801 people, an increase of 2,249 people from the number employed two years ago.”
Reflecting on the showroom number hitting 105 in the UK, Mr Pullan said: “This is less than half of the number of showrooms of some of our competitors and there
remains significant areas of the UK where the company has no presence. Additional locations have been identified and sites are being sought to address this issue.”
A total of £72.5 million was invested in manufacturing in 2021 with the second stone worktop fabrication plant at Scunthorpe highlighted.
It has doubled the company’s capacity, with “significant investment” also flagged at Barton where a huge expansion is underway.
The build is on schedule, with handover to Wren anticipated in the autumn.
It takes the total invested to £380
million by the business, founded by former Hygena head Malcolm Healey.
Stateside, Mr Pullan said Wren was on target to have eight showrooms open this year, with three trading at the close of the calendar-aligned accounting period
The first manufacturing plant is also fully operational.
Mr Pullan said: “Performance of the business is in line with expectations and the initial business plan and the pattern is following that seen by the directors when establishing the UK operation.”