Buy It Direct's profits soar

The Huddersfield-based company made profits of £2.6m in 2016, which is a 44 per cent increase year-on-year. It also increased its full year revenue by £16.6m to £120.7m.

In a statement, the company said that it believed the increase in profits was due to its investments in customer service.

Nick Glynne, the company’s managing director, said: “In 2016, we made significant investments in key staff and systems to help drive our customer and product offering.

“This year is going to be even better - we are already on track to smash last year’s profits.

“And once we have our new warehouse online in our next financial year, we expect another burst of growth.”

The company, which also manages Debenham’s white label electrical site DebenhamsPlus.com, said it had not experienced any fallout from the vote in support of Brexit so far, but it is cautious about the year ahead.

Mr Glynne said: “Despite market uncertainties, especially following the drop in sterling, we are fully committed to our five year strategy and will continue to make significant investment to help achieve our goal in becoming one of the UK’s most profitable online retailers of electricals and flat-pack furniture.

“We don’t want to be just another low profit ‘e-tailer’ so we are focusing on key points of difference to our competitors, all of whom appear to be wedded to an inflexible revenue trading model.

“It is very satisfying to see all our hard work starting to pay off.”

The Buy It Direct Group was founded in 1999. It was one of the first companies to sell laptops online.

The group operates a range of websites specialising in laptops, TVs, kitchen appliances and flat pack furniture including appliancesdirect.co.uk, laptopsdirect.co.uk, dronesdirect.co.uk and furniture123.co.uk.

Earlier this month, the online electricals firm AO World posted a lower-than-expected 8.9 per cent rise in UK revenues over the three months to the end of December.

In Europe, AO’s revenue for the period was up 28.4 per cent year-on-year, on a constant currency basis. Overall group revenue was up 12.3 per cent for the quarter and the firm said it was cautious given the uncertain UK economic outlook.

UK consumer sentiment increased in December, as consumers got into the festive spirit and shrugged off fears of a worsening UK economy, according to research from retail analysts Verdict.

However, sentiment regarding the future of the UK remains below pre-EU referendum levels, according to Zoe Mills, an associate analyst at Verdict.

Verdict’s research suggests that, despite an increase in optimism about the future of the UK, the majority of consumers accept that the weak pound will lead to price rises.