The Hut Group

The Hut Group

Type	Private
Industry	Retail & Technology
Founded	2004 (2004)
Founders	Matthew Moulding John Gallemore
Headquarters	Northwich, Cheshire, United Kingdom
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Various
Revenue	£334 million (2015)[1]
Number of employees	1000+[2]
Divisions	Retail & Technology Services
Website	www.thehutgroup.com

The Hut Group is a British e-commerce company with headquarters in Northwich, Cheshire. Through multiple websites which it owns and operates, The Hut Group sells a variety of products including sports nutrition and vitamins, cycling and endurance, health and beauty, weight management, and clothing and accessories.

History

The company was established by Matthew Moulding, a chartered accountant, in 2004.^[3]

Operations

The Hut Group launched its first website in 2004, focusing on lifestyle, health and beauty products. In addition, the group has other websites for product categories including fashion, entertainment and sports supplements. The Hut Group's current brands include The Hut, Zavvi, Coggles, Exante Diet, Myprotein, LookFantastic and Mankind.

Awards

In November 2008, the Hut Group won the Bank of Scotland North West Entrepreneur Challenge, with the prize of a £5 million interest free loan.^[4] On 5 February 2009, the company was voted the United Kingdom's best entrepreneur after beating the other regional finalists.^[5]

In September 2009 The Hut Group topped the Tech Track 100 list of fastest growing technology companies in the United Kingdom.^[6] In 2007 and 2008 The Hut Group topped the table for North West England, whilst rising steadily through the national table.

In April 2013, Mybag.com, the Hut Group's footwear store won the Draper's Footwear and/or Accessories Etailer of the Year.^[7]

In April 2014, The Hut Group, topped the Sunday Times Profit Track 100 list of Britain's private companies with the fastest growing profits.^[8]

In April 2015, The Hut Group became the first company to top the Sunday Times Profit Track 100 list of Britain's private companies with the fastest growing profits for the second year running. Profits grew an average of 217% a year from £503,000 in 2011 to £16m in 2014.^[9]

In July 2016, The Hut Group announced it had bought Hale Country Club and Spa, a 50,000 sq ft fitness and beauty facility located in Wythenshawe.^[10]

Ownership

Chaired by Richard Pennycook, the chief executive of the Co-operative Group, its investors include Sir Terry Leahy, the former Tesco chief executive, and Lord Rose, the chairman of Ocado and Britain Stronger in Europe. In 2014, the company sold a 19.2% stake to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, one of the world's leading private equity firms, while Balderton Capital, a technology investor, owns an identical stake.^[11] BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager is also a shareholder and invested £138m in February 2016.^[12]

Acquisition Strategy

On 24 December 2008, the entertainment retailer Zavvi entered into administration.^[13] On 27 February 2009, The Hut Group acquired the Zavvi.co.uk online brand from administrators Ernst and Young for an undisclosed sum.^[14] In January 2010, The Hut Group appointed Steven Whitehead to lead its acquisition initiatives. Whitehead was a former Assistant Director at Altium Capital.^[15] In June 2011 The Hut Group acquired Myprotein.com from Oliver Cookson. Myprotein was advised by Altium Capital's^[16] Simon Lord,^[17] Andy Clarke ^[18] and Phil Frame.^[19] The Hut Group later went on to litigate against Oliver Cookson claiming that the company's profits were significantly overstated during the sale process.^[20]

In July 2016 The Hut Group acquired Hale Country Club and Spa marking a defined change of direction in corporate strategy. Previously the group had concentrated on online e-tailing where by the group CEO's own admission customer service interaction is minimal. “The Hut focuses on FMCG products that generate a high level of repeat purchases. It sells goods with a low return rate – across the group, returns are in low single digits, says Moulding”^[21] The expressed intention of the acquisition was brand synergy with the group's myprotein and Lookfantastic brands.^[22]

Litigation

Oliver Cookson was involved in a long running case of litigation with The Hut Group over the sale of Myprotein in 2011. Cookson was sued for £15 million with The Hut Group claiming overestimation affected the valuation of the company when they bought it. Cookson counter sued for £12.7 million claiming a breach of warranty and fraudulent mis-representation. The matter went to the High Court in London in October 2014 and after a month-long trial judgement was given by William Blair in November 2014 giving Oliver Cookson an overall net result win of £6.5m in damages.^[23][24]

At the costs hearing in December 2014, the judge awarded a payment of just under £7.5 million to be made by The Hut Group to Cookson and the Trust in respect of all of the claims and counterclaims in the action and one third of the costs incurred by Mr Cookson and the Trust.^[25]

Oliver Cookson and the Trust have been successful in gaining permission to appeal the courts decision to award The Hut Groups damages, with the appeal to be heard in February 2016.^[26] The court of appeal dismissed the appeal on the 22 March 2016.^[27]

Oliver Cookson and his off-shore trust did not contest the High Court's findings that they had overstated Myprotein's profits; rather, the appeal focused on a very narrow technical issue, that the Hut Group was time-barred from bringing its claim.^[28] Oliver Cookson was advised by Altium Capital on the sale of Myprotein.com to The Hut Group.^[29] Altium Capital has also advised The Hut Group on various pre Initial public offering fundraisings in April 2010.^[30][31]

References

External links

• Official website