A RETAIL company owned by a Huddersfield man is bucking the trend to boost sales on the high street and online.

Dawsons Music, which is owned by Kirkheaton-born businessman David Briggs (pictured), is growing at a time when many other retailers have been tightening their belts and curbing ambitions.

The Warrington-based seller of musical instruments and sheet music has opened two stores this year – one at Market Street in Huddersfield and the other in Leeds – to take its total to 11.

Now it is investing in a new e-commerce website to build online sales further..

The surge in activity follows the appointment of retail veteran Mark Taylor as managing director in February. Mr Taylor has 25 years experience in retailing, including 10 years in e-commerce with the likes of Marks & Spencer, River Island and Littlewoods Shop Direct.

While Dawsons have been online since 1998, the company had failed to build on that strong start.

Said Mr Taylor: “We may have been one of the first in our industry to establish an online presence, but we have not moved forward as the internet developed.

“As a consequence, our competitors moved ahead of us in this channel.”

But he said the firm was remedying that situation.

He said: “You could say we’ve done the hard part. We’ve already got a great retail business and now we’re building on that by improving our online offering. This is about delivering a high level of customer satisfaction, not a stack-it-high, sell-it-cheap, approach.

“We have a strong store foundation, which is expanding and we have a good education division with plans to develop further. With the addition of this new website, we can provide customers with access to our business, from whichever channel they prefer.”

Plans are in-place to strengthen the e-commerce team further with the appointment of several key positions. The retailer said it expects to launch a mobile phone version of its new site later this month.

“We want to build a site that is commercially viable, but one that does this through adding value to the customer experience,” said Mr Taylor.

Mr Briggs embarked on his business career after graduating in law from St Andrew’s University in Scotland and gaining a business degree in the USA.

He was managing director of Hanson Transport in Huddersfield for some years before moving to industrial products group Hepworth, where he was managing director for one of its subsidiaries.

In the late 1970s, he took up the opportunity to work for himself before joining Dawsons Music in Warrington in 1979.

The company was owned by Canon Gordon Dawson, then vicar of Kirkheaton. It was bought from the Dawson family at the end of the 1970s and Mr Briggs has run it for the past 32 years.