Cotton Traders delivered a steady performance FYE 2024 in the face of a turbulent macro environment. Following a 52-week financial year in 2023, versus LFL 52 weeks in 2024, the brand has reported an operating profit of £9.46m (+3 per cent vs. 2023), and a EDITDA of £11.94m (+4 per cent vs. 2023), albeit with an expected decline in turnover of £107.88m in 2024 (-1 per cent vs. 2023).
The company says its profit increase was primarily due to a combination of continued sales growth driven by its online market share, which has seen repeat shopping from existing customers together with the recruitment of new customers on the brand’s own platform – with new customers also being driven from Marketplaces. Marketplace activity continued for the brand with the Debenhams Group and Freemans Group in 2024, with further expansion into Matalan in January 2025. In addition, sales across the brand’s 89 stores have been instrumental in overall sales growth.
Decline in the brand’s expected turnover was predominantly driven by the strategy to rest Brand Advertising (namely TV) due to the turbulent economic climate in 2024. Mass media returned to the marketing mix in H1 2025, with a six-week campaign period.
Cotton Traders’ chief marketing officer, Shona Jameson, comments: “In our pursuit to reposition brand perceptions, this rest period allowed us to re-assess and re-visit our brand persona, and our ‘Full of Surprises’ brand campaign addressed brand and audience misconceptions head-on in a memorable, humorous way that talks directly to our target audience; challenging them to reassess what they thought they knew about Cotton Traders”.
Sales across Cotton Traders’ store portfolio continue to be strong to budget, driven by portfolio growth of two physical stores, plus a wider programme of in-store modernisation, refits and an increase in total estate square footage.
The brand also reports omnichannel success with growth in its Order In Store programme (+1.9 per cent YOY). Nick Hamblin, CEO of Cotton Traders, adds: “We’ve seen a real resurgence to stores in 2024, and our omnichannel offering is stronger than ever, which in turn is increasing our sales across bricks and mortar.
Nick Hamblin, Cotton Traders’ CEO, adds: “We’re encouraged by the brand’s increase in operating profits throughout 2024, most notably driven through an incremental increase in online and in-store sales, combined with customers being driven to the brand through successfully implementing our marketplace growth strategy – all in the face of a turbulent economic period.”
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