Growth on cards as company booms in recession

According to its latest figures, Sportswift, which trades as the Card Factory, increased its turnover to 167m in the year to January 31, 2009 and its pre-tax profit to 29m.

The Card Factory is one of Yorkshire's fastest growing companies with about 4,500 staff and about 480 stores.

Managing director Richard Hayes said: "The figures reflect the ongoing progress of the company and the strategy for ongoing growth. The number of stores at the end of January 2009 was up to 385 and we've added almost 100 in the last year.

"It's important that we provide a value proposition and in the current high street environment if you have a good value proposition you are well-placed to have a good business."

Last year, Card Factory took over 74 stores from rival card retailer Celebrations Group, which owned the Card Warehouse and Card Fair brands, after it went into administration.

"We have integrated them smoothly into the business and will support us in the next year," said Mr Hayes.

Card Factory's previous figures put turnover for the seven months to the end of January 2008 at 90m, with a profit of 17m.

In an interview with the Yorkshire Post last November, Card Factory chairman Dean Hoyle, who founded the business 12 years ago, said the company was looking at entering international markets in the US and Ireland.

But last night Mr Hayes said 2010 would be spent on the firm's UK expansion. The group serves more than 100 million customers a year at present.

"International plans have never been high on my agenda. There is still a lot of potential in the UK," he said. "People like Clintons at their peak had over 1,000 stores which provides the potential for us to have the same number."

Mr Hoyle and his wife, Janet, founded the greeting cards business in 1997 when they opened their first shop in Wakefield.

In the last four years, Card Factory has taken control of the whole process from card design to retail.

Mr Hoyle attributes Card Factory's success to its combination of quality and value. He said in November: "If people could shop in Harrods and pay Netto prices, that is the perfect scenario and we're trying to give that kind of experience."

The management team consists of Mr Hayes, a former Royal Bank of Scotland corporate banker who was relationship manager to the Card Factory, group

finance director Darren Bryant, formerly the corporate finance partner for Yorkshire at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and logistics director Christopher Beck, who used to work at Grant Thornton in Leeds.

Mr Hayes said: "Over recent years we have been putting a management team in place which is well capable of supporting the ongoing growth of the business. Next year we will be showing figures in excess of those we have published."

Mr Hoyle has taken a step

back from the running of the company to spend more time with his two children and in his role at Huddersfield Town FC chairman.

Last month, it emerged that Mr Hoyle is considering a sale of his Card Factory business and has appointed KPMG to advise on its future.

It is understood that one option under consideration is a management buyout with private equity backing. Last month, Card Factory picked up the Board of the Year award at the Variety Club Yorkshire Business Awards, supported by the Yorkshire Post and Hitchenor Wakeford Executive Search, which took place at The Queens Hotel in Leeds.

A MESSAGE OF SUCCESS

The UK greeting card industry is worth more than 1.7bn annually, more than tea and coffee put together.

It is the most successful greeting card industry in the world with 800 publishers producing more than 1.5bn greeting cards in 2009.

Each person sends an average of 31 greetings cards per year.

The average retail price of a card last year in the UK was 1.17.

Christmas cards accounted for 43 per cent of volume at 641 million cards and 19 per cent of the value of the industry, worth 324m.

Women buy 85 per cent of all cards

The commercial Christmas card was invented in 1846 by Sir Henry Cole, the chief organiser of the Great Exhibition, pioneer of the penny post

and founder of the V&A Museum.

One of Sir Henry's first Christmas cards, sent to his grandmother, was recently sold at auction for 22,500.

Statistics from the Greetings Card Association's Market Report 2009.