Fashion brand Celtic & Co has reported a ten-fold increase in profit during its last financial year. The company, which sells through mail order alongside UK, US, Canadian and Australian websites, posts out to around 80 countries across the globe. International trade has increased by an average of 238 per cent per year over the last three years. This area of the business now accounts for over 20 per cent of turnover, up from just 1 per cent three years ago.
Co-Founder of Celtic & Co., Nick Whitworth states “Since 2014, our strategy has focused on profitable growth to protect the business in the long term by building up our equity. Based on learnings of previous years, we now focus on a wide range of markets and opportunities to ensure we are not over reliant on one market or territory. A key part of this strategy is international growth. We are now targeting a 25 per cent increase in sales and increased profitability over the next year.”
Additionally, over the last year, Celtic & Co. has seen a restructuring of marketing activity to improve the focus on a more sustainable approach. When launching into Australia in 2017 with its dedicated website, Celtic & Co. did so paper-free, without a single catalogue or flyer drop. Zoe Bray, head of marketing explains “Last year we introduced a sustainability scheme of cutting down our paper costs by producing smaller catalogues and increasing our digital presence, in line with the changing way the majority of our customers prefer to shop. This reduced our marketing spend by 25 per cent year on year and enabled us to reinvest in other new exciting projects, which will help us further improve our offering to customers in all corners of the globe.”
Nick and Kath Whitworth, who have been running the company for 28 years in their hometown of Newquay, were recently presented the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade, one of the most prestigious business awards in the country.
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