Online sales at The Works declined by 12.1% in the full year to 4 May 2025, after temporary capacity constraints at its third-party provider impacted fulfilment during peak. The company is focusing on improving the profitability of its online channel, which makes up less than 10% of its total sales.
Steve Bellamy, chair of The Works, said that despite the challenges in fulfilling online orders during peak the issues were contained and online performance improved significantly during Q4. The online capacity issues were largely resolved post-Christmas and a new third-party provider has now been appointed.
Elevating The Works
Bellamy joined the business last July and has helped The Works develop and deliver new strategic plans and targets for the business. A new strategy, ‘Elevating The Works’, was launched in January 2025. The Works’ CEO Gavin Peck said the new strategy focuses on The Works becoming a destination for affordable, screen-free activities for the whole family.
The new plan includes growing the brand, improving customer convenience and operating leanly and efficiently. “The successful execution of this strategy will have a transformative impact on the business, enabling us to deliver sales in excess of £375m and an EBITDA margin of at least 6% within five years,” said Peck.
Reducing friction
The Works is also working to reduce key frictions in the online customer journey, such as adding products to basket and improving product pages and imagery to enhance customer experience and conversion.
Total revenue for the year was down 2% to £277m, although last year included an extra trading week. Pre-tax profit rose 20.3% to £8.3m, although adjusted profit before tax was £4.6m after adjusting for a £3.8m credit.
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