A company selling items ranging from computers and cameras to fridges and flying drones has been named one of the UK’s leading online retailers.
Deighton-based BuyitDirect.co.uk is 13th in the Top 25 UK Online Retailers compiled by industry publication Retail Week.
BuyitDirect – which employs 320 people and runs Laptops Direct, Appliances Direct, Drones Direct and Furniture123 – racked up sales of £120.7m in 2016, putting ahead of notable brands including Missguided, Made.com and Victoria Plum.
Asos topped the table with sales of £1.44bn followed by Shop Direct on £1.40bn and Ocado at £1.17bn.
But BuyitDirect managing director Nick Glynne – Business Person of the Year at the 2016 Examiner Business Awards – said: “What you can’t see from this table is the vast sums of money that some of the other companies on this list spent on advertising. We have grown organically without outside investment.
“Other companies are propped up by wealthy owners or by institutional shareholders. This makes our achievement all the more satisfying, knowing that we’ve climbed into the Top 15 by careful self-invested growth.“
Mr Glynne, who is targeting sales of £200m sales in three years time, said one of the keys to its online success was having bricks-and-mortar stores to showcase its products.
“Our Huddersfield store on Leeds Road complements our online business,” he said. “We’ve just added furniture to our Huddersfield store to let our customers browse our furniture ranges before they buy.”
