The Cotswold Company, the digitally-led premium handcrafted furniture and homeware brand, has reported strong growth through the Christmas period.
According to its latest trading update for the nine weeks from 28 October to 29 December 2024, The Cotswold Company continued to materially outperform the broader home and furniture market during the important Christmas trading period, achieving year-on-year sales growth of 22% (+£3.6m) to £19.9m.
This strong performance, alongside achieving B Corp Certification, reflects the strengthening brand and product proposition and effective marketing initiatives driving increased online traffic, retail footfall across the Company’s 10 showrooms (2023: 8 showrooms), and growth in active customers (+20 y-o-y).
E-commerce sales were up 13% year on year, representing 77% of total sales in the period, while showroom sales rose 66% year on year (+35% LFL) supported by its new upholstery proposition and geo-targeted digital marketing.
Gross order margins also increased by 590bpts year-on-year reflecting the strength of The Cotswold Company brand as well as growing customer demand for high-quality furniture and homewares that are built to last, aligning with its B Corp values.
In addition to the strong financial performance during the period, the Company continued to make important progress against its long-term growth strategy. Building on the opening of two new retail showrooms in Stamford (September 2024) and Bath (December 2023), the Cotswold Company became a truly omni-channel brand with the launches in November on Next.co.uk and with John Lewis (in-store at Peter Jones and online).
Both partnerships have performed well so far, contributing to sales growth whilst also introducing an increasing number of consumers to the brand.
Ralph Tucker, Chief Executive Officer of The Cotswold Company said, “Firstly I’d like to thank everyone at The Cotswold Company for their hard work over the important Christmas trading period. The commitment and skill of our team has once again been central to the Company delivering another very strong performance which was significantly ahead of the broader market.
“More and more consumers are moving away from ‘throwaway’ furniture in favour of high-quality, made-to-last products, and I am delighted that an increasing number of them are choosing to bring The Cotswold Company into their homes. This is a reflection of the strength of our brand and its timeless design aesthetics, our reputation for exceptional quality and our unwavering commitment to creating sustainable products that stand the test of time. As a newly Certified B Corporation, this recognition underscores our dedication to being a force for good—delivering furniture that aligns with our values of sustainability, craftsmanship, and positive impact.
“In addition to delivering a strong trading performance during the Christmas period, we have continued to invest in our ambitious long-term growth plans. Our newest showroom in Stamford has performed well in its first few months of trading, and we have exciting plans to open several more showrooms over the coming months, including in Marlow in mid-January. We are also very encouraged by our initial trading with both Next and John Lewis. We are highly confident that these important strategic partnerships will contribute to future sales growth as well as introduce new consumers to our brand, strengthen brand loyalty, and inspire more people to switch to high-quality, made-to-last furniture.
“Underpinned by our strong brand, distinctive customer proposition, and expanded multi-channel model we are confident that The Cotswold Company is well positioned to achieve further significant growth as we work towards achieving our strategic goal of being the UK’s leading and most loved premium handcrafted homeware brand.”
