Dean Hoyle joins The Works as chairman

Endless LLP has announced that Dean Hoyle, the founder of the Card Factory, has been appointed to the board of discount retailer, The Works, as chairman.
Dean Hoyle.Dean Hoyle.
Dean Hoyle.

Mr Hoyle has also become a significant shareholder in the business having made a sizeable cash investment.

The role is the first major retail industry position that Mr Hoyle has taken since the sale of Card Factory to Charterhouse Capital in 2010.

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As founder of Card Factory, Mr Hoyle took the business from a market stall to a company delivering profits of £50m in just 12 years, establishing a store estate of 500 outlets with over 5,000 employees.

The business has since achieved a successful float on the London Stock Exchange. Mr Hoyle is also the chairman of Huddersfield Town Football Club.

Garry Wilson, partner at Endless, said: “Dean’s history with Card Factory has been well documented and his track record is second to none. He has had the opportunity to work with many other retailers, and for Dean to choose to invest alongside us in The Works underlines both its current strength and further potential.

“We have enjoyed excellent trading and growth over many years at The Works and I know that this will only be accelerated further by Dean joining the team. This is a hugely important day in The Work’s history. ”

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Dean Hoyle, new chairman at The Works, said: “I’m excited to be joining The Works. It’s a fantastic business and one that I have been following for a number of years given the growth it has achieved in the discount market. The Works has a really strong management team in place that has built a platform for the company to achieve even greater growth potential, which it has in abundance. The business has a unique retail model and doesn’t have the restriction of the single price structure of many discount retailers, giving it both resilience to market changes and the ability to capitalise on consumer trends. It also has a thriving multichannel platform in place and there is a lot of headroom to add to the company’s store estate.”

Mr Hoyle joins The Works after the company announced its seventh consecutive year of increased sales and profit. For the financial year ending April 2015, The Works saw an 11 per cent increase in total sales and EBITDA increase of 15 per cent to £9.3m. Sales totalled £157m across the retailers’ estate of 310 stores.

Kevin Keaney, The Works CEO, said: “Dean brings a vast wealth of knowledge and front line leadership experience to the management team, which is going to prove invaluable to The Works in the years ahead. This is a great coup for our business and we’re thrilled to have him on board.”

Joining Mr Hoyle on The Works’ board and as a fellow investor will be Tony Barraclough, who will become a non-executive director. Mr Barraclough was property director at Card Factory and played a leading role in the rapid expansion of the company’s store estate.

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Born in Heckmondwike, West Yorkshire in 1967, Mr Hoyle set up Card Factory in 1997 and established the business as one of the UK’s fastest growing retailers.

Hoyle will continue his role as chairman of the Card Factory operational board.

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