Online retail giant The Hut Group has announced a group sales increase of 24 per cent to £916m in 2018.
International sales accounted for 66 per cent of the figure achieved by the unicorn. Gross Profit increased by 31 percent to £417m, from £318m in 2017.
The Manchester-headquartered firm was established by Matthew Moulding and John Gallemore in 2004 and has grown to employ a global workforce of more than 4,000 people.
In 2018 the firm added an extra 1,500 jobs, largely in the North West, taking the total worldwide workforce to over 5,000 people and invested £180m across technology, beauty and infrastructure.
“This has been another landmark year for THG. Our strategic investments to develop our technology, infrastructure, brands and people, have delivered exceptional global growth with 66 per cent of our sales achieved internationally,” said Moulding.
“THG’s investments during 2018 have been followed by further investments to date in 2019, resulting in over £850m ($1.1bn) of investment across beauty, technology and infrastructure since 2016 and the vote on Brexit.
“This scale of investment propels THG’s proposition across global markets, deepening our strategic advantage and enabling us to digitalise brands at scale.
“The acquisition of Language Connect brings another step change in the evolution of our proprietary technology platform, THG Ingenuity, and supports our continued international growth.
“Our beauty division delivered a standout performance in the year, driven by growth across the global, especially Asia and the US.
“The acquisitions of Eyeko, Ameliorate and Acheson & Acheson are excellent additions to our leading brands portfolio and the latter will drive innovative product development.”
During 2019, THG’s fulfilment network will be strengthened further with the addition of smaller fulfilment centres in Asia, Australasia and India, as well as two additional locations in the USA.
A $1bn investment has been reached by the firm to construct a major new business campus at Manchester Airport; developing 1m sq. ft. of office as well as studio space.