Maplin records strongest sales growth since 2008 after focus on product and service

Revenue was up 6.3% to £237m as Maplin chief executive John Cleland said it benefitted from a focus on “improving the product and service proposition, along with our commitment to the best customer experience”.

Maplin did not provide profit figures.

Online sales jumped 20.6% and now represent 10% of turnover. Maplin said growth was driven by its click and collect proposition alongside its wide product offering and new web platform, installed in early 2014.

Maplin has nearly tripled its product range in two years, to 44,000, providing “customers with more choice”.

It said it had benefitted from “new and exciting ranges of high tech products, many of which have been exclusive to Maplin”.  Those products include drones, and Maplin has shifted 10,000 in the last 12 months.

The 218-store retailer opened four “core” shops in the year as well as two trial stores; a small 1,000 sq ft “travel hub” in Glasgow Airport and its first trade counter in Sheffield.

Cleland added: “In the year ahead we will continue to unite our sales and service channels for the best customer journey and will continue to invest in the help and advice our colleagues provide, as well as continuing to support product innovation.  These are very exciting times for Maplin, and again I am so proud of what our colleagues have done to change and improve the Maplin customer experience.”

Maplin said its Net Promote Score reached 72%, up from 56% in late 2013.

Maplin was sold by Montagu Private Equity to Rutland Partners for £85m last year, down on the £224m Montagu paid for it 10 years previously.