Conservatory Outlet takes another chunk of retail
4th July 2017

The Conservatory Outlet Group has taken another big step into vertical integration and consumer sales with a second major retailer acquisition in less than three months, not only giving it a much bigger foothold in the Northern England consumer market but also taking the Group’s combined revenue to over £40million.

However, the purchase of the £14million sales Clearview Home Improvements, with showrooms in Lancashire and Cheshire, came once again with the group’s declaration that it will remain “a B2B company with a strong understanding of the retail market” despite now having well over half its sales from Clearview and its earlier acquisition of Pennine Home Improvements read story.

Instead, it says it allows Conservatory Outlet Limited – the fabricator at the core of the UK Network of installer partners – to pick up valuable insight from two of the North’s leading retail and installation companies to bring the customer closer to the business than ever before.

The group also affirms that, Clearview, just as Pennine, will retain exclusivity of its trading area within the network and this will not conflict with any of the Network’s 23 other retail partners around the UK.

Group CEO Greg Kane explained: “With an unbeatable reputation for local excellence in the North West, the team at Clearview will continue to augment their unique approach to home improvement, imparting their innovative solutions with our Network to stimulate wider growth we never thought possible a year ago.”

Clearview, has seen its sales double since joining the Network in 2009. Its £14million addition to group turnover not only represents a six-fold growth for the Conservatory Outlet Group in seven years but, along with Pennine, has seen group sales almost treble since April.

Clearview Managing Director Chris Mitchell and Installations Director Andrew Ross will exit as shareholders but remain in their day-to-day roles together with Sales Director Gary Oakes. The group says a longer-term succession plan will follow.
Chris Mitchell said: “Greg and Michael were the obvious choice to purchase our business; we trust them implicitly and know that they’re as passionate about our company as we are - this move is very much about accelerating our growth.”

Greg concluded: “Our existing Network of retail installers should be truly motivated by this latest move – the opportunities for growth with CO are stronger and more real than ever before, with a unique culture emerging that sets aside our family as a cut above the rest.

“We’re continuing to actively seek new retailers in untapped areas of the UK - this is a really exciting time to become part of our Network.”

Picture: l to r, Michael Giscombe (Managing Director, Conservatory Outlet Limited), Andrew Ross (Installations Director, Clearview Home Improvements), Greg Kane (CEO, Conservatory Outlet Group), Chris Mitchell (Managing Director, Clearview Home Improvements)

https://www.conservatoryoutlet.co.uk