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Victorian Plumbing set to float on the AIM market as its market shifts online during Covid-19 pandemic

Shoppers looking for a new bathroom are now more likely to turn online. Image: Joe Gough/Shutterstock.com

Shoppers looking for a new bathroom are now more likely to turn online. Image: Joe Gough/Shutterstock.com

Victorian Plumbing is set to float on the stockmarket this month, having benefited from the shift online hastened by the Covid-19 pandemic. The retailer cites Mintel research suggesting that 29% of sales in a £1.4bn bathroom products market now take place online – and that it has a 14.2% share of the market. 

In the near-term its strategy is to continue investing in an agile and efficient supply chain and in its customer services teams, with a focus on after sales and customer satisfaction. Medium-term, it aims to expand into new product categories, at a time when home owners are expected to spend more on bathrooms and home improvements more generally. It also plans international expansion into markets such as France, Ireland, Germany and Spain, where a relatively high proportion of shoppers are used to buying online. 

The pureplay, ranked Top250 in RXUK Top500 research, is set to launch onto the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London. In the year to September 30 it turned over £208.7m and reported earnings after interest, tax and one-off costs of £26.2m. It says that 75% of its turnover was from own-brand sales during the year. It also sells products from more than 125 brands. 

Mark Radcliffe, founder and chief executive of Victorian Plumbing, says: “Victorian Plumbing is the most recognised online bathroom brand in the UK; we work hard every day to make sure we are providing consumers with the largest choice of quality bathroom products. Our approach is industry leading, as evidenced by our substantial and growing market share. 

“It’s been a fantastic and eventful journey growing Victorian Plumbing over the past two decades. Our early and sustained investment in digital retailing and the advantages that brings has allowed us to make the most of the structural shift in consumers increasingly looking to buy bathroom products online.”

• The news comes on the same day as Made.com confirmed it would proceed with its own stockmarket flotation, onto the main market of the London Stock Exchange, announced last week and now expected to take place later this month. 

Philippe Chainieux, chief executive of Made, says: ”I am pleased to announce our confirmed intention to list here in London, where Made was born. Over the last eleven years, Made has been revolutionising the home and living sector by providing our customers across Europe with a curated range of high-quality, responsibly made, affordable products, underpinned by exclusive designs. The business is fast growing, with a proven brand and customer proposition that travels well. We are excited to embark on our next chapter as we act on the huge opportunity for growth and deliver on our vision to become the leading home-lifestyle destination in Europe for the digital native.”

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