Target hits £20m in sales as staff get profit reward

The company, which is based near Castleford and employs 50 people, yesterday announced its turnover figure for the year ending March 31, 2012, representing a 4.4 per cent increase on last year. It recorded pre-tax profits of £706,472, which were 0.9 per cent up on the previous year.

The profit figure is after deduction of 10 per cent which is shared equally between all staff. Paul Cubbage, managing director, said the profit bonus scheme, which this year saw about £80,000 split between employees, “gets everyone involved in the company”. He said: “So it gives everyone a stake, everyone an incentive and shows them that they are valued.”

The firm, which targets supplies to independent IT retailers and small to medium-sized resellers, was founded in 1998 by Mr Cubbage and fellow director Ian Prescott.

This is now the sixth consecutive year of profit growth for the distributor, and the fifth record profit performance in a row, but represents a slowdown following five successive years of at least 40 per cent year-on-year net profit growth. Mr Cubbage said: “We’re delighted to announce another record year in the current climate.” He added that the business had invested “heavily” this year to increase the level of support for customers.

“We are a very customer focused business. We are always introducing new ways of dealing with the customers and getting closer to the customers. Probably the biggest one in the year we’ve just completed is the business advisory services that we’ve started,” said Mr Cubbage.

The company launched the service in response to the demise of Business Link Yorkshire, a taxpayer-funded business advice service which closed last year.

Mr Cubbage said: “We’ve also invested significantly in increasing our headcount, so to see profit increase is particularly pleasing, and is once again a testament to the resilience and loyalty of our customers.”

Target Components has taken on at least 10 more people in the last 12 months.

Looking ahead, the business is planning to diversify into new markets such as stationery and office supplies, said Mr Cubbage. “Strategically, the aim for the next 12 to 18 months, aside from growing the core business, is to diversify into new markets. For the core business, growth is very much about gaining new customers and expanding the product range, the two go hand in hand.”

Target Components, which operates nationwide but sees 15 to 20 per cent of its business carried out in Yorkshire, is owned by Mr Cubbage and Mr Prescott. Mr Cubbage said: “It has taken us a long time to get established and get the foundations right, but the last five or six years, everything’s been going in the right direction.”