Gear4music upbeat despite aggressive pricing from rivals

It operates from a head office in York, with distribution centres in York, Bacup, Sweden, Germany, Ireland and Spain.

In a year-end trading update, covering the 12 months to March 31 2025, Gear4music said it had delivered robust revenue growth in the UK, with European revenues reflecting competitive pressures throughout the year “in certain markets within the region”.

It said that EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) is expected to be £10m while PBT (profit before tax) is expected to be £1.6m in the full-year 2025 results. Net bank debt was further reduced to £6.4m at March 31 2025, the group said.

Gear4music's Executive Chair Andrew Wass said: "Despite a challenging consumer environment over the past 12 months, we are pleased to report that the group's financial performance in FY25 (full-year 2025) is expected to surpass FY24 (full-year 2024).

"Our performance reflects higher revenues, stable gross margins and a continued focus on cost control resulting in increased reported EBITDA, and a £1m improvement in profit before tax for the year.

He added: “Financial performance in February and early March 2025 was subdued, primarily due to aggressive discounting from underperforming competitors in both the UK and Europe coupled with ongoing weak consumer confidence.

"However, both UK and European like-for-like (LFL) sales improved markedly in the latter half of March, with early indications suggesting that the competitive pressures may be easing as a result of a number of significant retailers experiencing trading difficulties and now exiting the market.

He continued: “Through FY25, we have laid robust foundations for our revised growth strategy first announced in June 2024, by investing in new own-brand products, expanding our second hand offerings, strengthening our marketing capabilities, and enhancing our bespoke e-commerce platform.”

"Economic uncertainty remains as we enter the new financial year, nevertheless we believe these strategic initiatives coupled with competitor developments in our market, position us well to maintain our recent positive momentum and drive accelerated commercial and financial performance in FY26 (full-year 2026) and beyond."

Gear4Music sells to customers ranging from beginners to professionals.

The group continues to build its overseas presence after developing its own e-commerce platform, with multilingual, multicurrency websites now delivering to more than 190 countries.