Demand has fishing firm eyeing £125 million catch

A fishing supplies firm says it is well placed to reel in a £125 million revenue target after withstanding choppy market waters.

Angling Direct saw sales and profit rise in the six months to July 31, as “robust” high-ticket demand and membership increases complemented new store rollouts.  

Group revenue was five per cent better off at £56.4 million – as UK sales grew across shops and online – with gross profit rising from £20.4 million a year ago to £21.3 million.

Bosses say the increases leave the Norfolk-headquartered operator “on a flightpath” to scale to a medium-term £125 million earnings goal, with further store openings earmarked to deliver “accretive returns”.

They add its progress was helped by a 16 per cent rise in reward scheme members to nearly 700,000, which drove “deeper engagement across stores and digital platforms in a competitive environment”, and the introduction of stores in Crawley, Kettering and Gloucester that took its network to 60 outlets.

Steve Crowe, chief executive at the business, based on the outskirts of Norwich, said: “I am pleased to report a resilient first-half performance despite the well-documented challenges facing the UK retail sector.

“Our higher-ticket categories proved robust, even as reduced rainfall impacted footfall and seasonal demand patterns.

“We have a clear ambition to scale the UK business to our medium-term £125 million revenue target, and we are continuing to build towards this. 

“Our fishing club membership scheme will be pivotal to achieving this, as it provides the platform to continue taking market share through leveraging our physical and digital infrastructure.

“Alongside this, we will continue our UK physical estate rollout by taking advantage of continuing market consolidation and acquiring existing retailers or reaching new unserved catchments where we believe we can make accretive returns.”

The firm’s store estate stretches from Washington, in Wearside, to Southampton.

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