Carpet firm to roll out a £50m float

AMBITIOUS carpet and flooring supplier Likewise Group will this week list on AIM with a plan to triple sales.

The firm has agreed to raise £10 million from investors, valuing it at £50million, to fund growth and distribution centres across the UK.

Likewise is run by Tony Brewer, who for 16 years ran flooring supply giant

Headlam, which has a current market value of £436 million.

Likewise supplies independent retailers in the highly fragmented market, which is still dominated by 7,000 or so small, family-run operations.

Brewer said Likewise planned to grow its share

of the £2 billion-a-year market from 3 per cent to 10 per cent – equivalent to sales of about £200 million a year.

He said independents often sell and fit carpets and still thrive in a market where advice and understanding the technical specifications of products help customers decide which to buy.

‘There’s little or no barrier to setting up [a shop] in this market and with our help it can be made very easy,’ he said.

Brewer has attracted several other former Headlam employees to work for him, including his finance director and commercial director.

The sale of shares dilutes his family stake in the business to about 25 per cent.