Quiz said this week that its planned flotation on the stockmarket would help it to achieve its global potential through new stores and online.
The omnichannel fast fashion retailer, a Top100 trader in IRUK Top500 research, which specialises in occasionwear, evening wear and dressy casual wear for 16 to 35-year-old women, says its strongest growth opportunities are in online and international markets. But it is also planning to “accelerate growth” across all channels, including via stores.
Currently it trades in the UK online and through 73 stores and 167 concessions in stores including Debenhams and House of Fraser. It has a presence in 19 countries, with 70 international franchise stores and through international online partners such as Zalando.
The plan to float on the AIM (Alternative Investment Market) market at the London Stock Exchange comes after two years of fast sales growth. In results reported in 2017, total revenue reached £89.8m, 21% up on those reported in 2015. Earnings before interest, tax and depreciation of assets (EBITDA) grew by 30.6% over that period to £10.3m.
In the first two months of the current financial year, total sales have grown by 37% and online sales by 118%, while like-for-like sales in UK and Republic of Ireland stores and concessions are 16% ahead.
Tarak Ramzan, who founded the retail brand in Glasgow in 1993, said: “Quiz is a strong and distinctive omni-channel fashion brand with a clear customer and product focus. We are delighted to announce the group’s intention to float on AIM and we are confident that this will help enable the brand to achieve its exciting global potential.
“Fast fashion is in Quiz’s DNA and our ‘just in time’ model ensures that we are always responding in real time to new trends as they emerge. This enables QUIZ to always offer fantastic value and quality products that make fashion forward females feel glamorous and stand out from the crowd.
“The group’s fast, flexible supply chain together with the winning formula of style, quality, value and speed-to-market has enabled QUIZ to grow rapidly into an established international fashion brand with over 300 standalone stores, concessions, franchise stores, wholesale partners and international online partners in 19 countries. I am very confident that we have a well-invested infrastructure, a fantastic team and a clear strategy to accelerate further the growth of the Quiz brand across all channels and markets.”
