The UK’s largest shoe manufacturer Hotter Shoes, which was acquired by WoolOvers last year, will continue to produce shoes at its factory in Skelmersdale, Lancashire.
According to reports, plans to phase out UK production have been scrapped by the new owners who instead want to increase domestic production by 25%.
A company profile in the UK Fashion Report tracks the retailer from its founding as the Hotter Comfort Concept brand in the early 1990s by Beaconsfield Footwear. Hotter founder Stewart Houlgrave’s parents had set up Beaconsfield Footwear as a slipper manufacturer in 1959, but it was Stewart Houlgrave who hit upon the idea of expanding the business to create a range of stylish, high quality and ultra-comfortable shoes for women and men featuring a range of hidden comfort features.
It is now a multi-channel retailer, selling shoes and accessories online, by direct mail and through more than stores nationwide. In 2015, the company won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade after growing export earnings by an outstanding 123% in the previous three years as it developed the Hotter brand in markets such as the USA, the Middle East and South Africa.
The company continued to boom through the rest of the 2010s and has been a leader in embracing new technology and shopping habits. In 2021 it rolled out a new precise fit technology online, on its app and in stores to help shoppers get the best shoe fit however they purchased. The launch was promoted with a pop-up store in Manchester’s Trafford Centre.
In 2022, the company partnered with M&S to use the famous retailer’s website and app to enhance its Hotter digital-first strategy and later the same year Hotter also opened its own online marketplace target specific partner brands at 55+ women – a segment that is growing twice as fast as the under 55 market. It further extended this concept with the launch of a platform specifically aimed at this segment.
However, the cost of the new platform at a time when the cost-of-living pressure has hit sales saw the company record a pre-tax loss despite sales rising 10%. The company also took the radical step of pausing online activity in 2023 to focus on its core business as sales continued to slide.
Hotter Shoes was rescued by WoolOvers in a £6.7mn pre-pack deal in July 2023. The retailer reported sales increasing to £50mn, up from £45mn, in the first year since the acquisition.
This Hotter Shoes profile is from the 2023 UK Fashion report, the latest version is available now for an in-depth analysis of the UK market, its customers, brands and how it differs to the rest of the fashion world.
The 2024 report includes six company profiles, which include web traffic, share price over time, company revenue and company profit. As well as an in depth case study highlighting consumer behaviour. It looks at Cider, M&S, Kurt Geiger, Secret Sales, Zara and Boohoo.
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