Online retailer Gear4Music signals intention to float

Founded in 1995 by chief executive officer Andrew Wass, Gear4music Limited, the group’s main trading company, has been profitable since its launch in 2003 and has accelerated its revenue growth during the last two years from £12.3m in 2013 to £24.2m in the year ended February 2015.

As one of the fastest-growing UK based retailers within this sector, the directors believe the group is well positioned to take advantage of a fragmented UK market, and the ongoing shift from high street to online retail across Europe.

Mr Wass said: “Over the last 12 years, we have established ourselves as one of the largest UK based online retailers of musical instruments and music equipment and are well placed to build on the positive momentum we have generated to date, particularly over the last two years, which have seen our revenues almost double and our European business expand significantly.

“We are very excited about this next stage in our development, with our forthcoming flotation on Aim enabling us to develop further our bespoke ecommerce platform, invest in additional marketing initiatives, extend the range of products we stock and open a flagship showroom in central London.”

Panmure Gordon is acting as financial adviser, nominated adviser and broker to Gear4music.