The Very Group owners the Barclay family have brought back plans to float the online retailer to the tune of £4bn.

The retailer shelved the IPO plans last year over concerns about worsening market conditions when a number of tech companies’ floats tanked.

Very has now offered incentives to senior managers in return for leading the business through the IPO process, aiming for mid-2023.

The decline in share prices of online retailers such as AO, Asos and Boohoo following the pandemic boom brings into question whether Very will be able to achieve its mooted £4bn valuation.

Soaring inflation, the cost-of-living crisis and the war in Ukraine have all exacerbated stock market volatility and hammered share prices – with Asos’ dropping 70% over the past year, for example.

The listing would be the first time the Barclay family, which owns the Telegraph newspapers and Ritz hotels, have taken any of their companies public.

In preparation for the float last year, the retailer refinanced £550m of debt and brought in former Walmart executive Dirk van den Berghe as chair.

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