Gear4music set to add staff as new York-based distribution centre prompts growth drive

Gear4music has now confirmed that it is investing an estimated £10.2m into the first phase automation and fit-out at the new site, which the firm said would increase its UK distribution capacity by approximately 2.5 times.

The new location, which is set to be operational by Autumn, has been described by Gear4music as an “automated distribution centre”.

But Speaking to The Yorkshire Post as the company announced its annual results, chair Andrew Wass said the firm would not be investing in automation with a view to cutting jobs, but instead further investing in its team.

Mr Wass said: “We are employing new people at the new site, and we're very much retaining what we've got from York as well.

“I think the nice thing with this is that long term its going to make our business much more efficient, because we can automate the things that it's possible to automate these days, but at the same time it's going to create more space in our York facility to invest into those things that require skill sets.

“I'm always happy about growth, so what we're building now will give us about two and a half times the capacity for the growth in the future, and it will just allow us to really efficiently scale the business.

“I'm not going to be employing less people, I will be employing more.”

Mr Wass declined to confirm how many additional staff the company would be seeking to take on.

The new York distribution centre adds to existing sites in Bacup, Sweden, Germany, Ireland and Spain.

Gear4music's latest results saw the company post a leap in pre-tax profits, which lifted from £1.6m for the period ended 31 March 2025 to £10.3m this year.

This came alongside revenues of £190.7m this year, up from £146.7m a year prior.

The period saw two of Gear4music’s major competitors, Guitar, Amp & Keyboard and Play Music Today exit the market.

The firm said the move had created an estimated £70m market share opportunity and

“improved market conditions as price aggressors left the market”.

But Mr Wass said despite the market shift creating opportunities for the firm, the situation had not been the main driver of its positive results.

He said: “We actually grew faster in Europe than we did in the UK. We've seen more of that consolidation of people going out of business in the UK, and we're having Europe seeing less of it in Europe, but actually that's still where we grew faster.”

Mr Wass added that success in the company’s ecommerce business had also driven the positive results.

He said: “We've done an awful lot of work on our systems. On the back end, on the websites, right across the business on products, everything. I think it's a lot about hard work starting to show through what our teams have been doing.”