Gear4music reports strong trading in the run up to Christmas

The York-based firm, the largest UK-based online retailer of musical instruments and music equipment, said that trading during the peak seasonal trading period was in line with board expectations, with UK sales up 24 per cent on the same period last year. Gross profits rose 27 per cent in the three months to December 31.

Gear4music said that its new European distribution centres are scaling up well to address the post-Brexit challenges. The group said that it also successfully launched the AV.com website on January 13, following Gear4music’s acquisition of the company in December 2021.

Gear4music’s chief executive, Andrew Wass, said: “We are pleased to report that financial performance during the peak seasonal trading period was in line with the board’s expectations, demonstrating good progress when compared with the same period last year."

He said that UK sales growth was robust against what were exceptional revenues last year, although European growth has been restricted due to short term Brexit related challenges.

"We are continuing to make good progress in scaling up our new European distribution centres in Ireland and Spain to strengthen our European customer proposition, and we expect European revenues to regain momentum," he said.

"Following the successful acquisition of AV Distribution in December 2021, we were very pleased to have successfully launched AV.com as scheduled on January 13, 2022.

"AV.com is currently focused on retailing Home Cinema and HiFi equipment and accessories and significantly increases our addressable market size.

"We have a strong pipeline of new products, e-commerce system developments and new website features due to be launched throughout the coming year, and as such, we remain confident in our long-term profitable growth strategy.”