Chorley firm Festive Lights plots European expansion as turnover hits £4.4m

Lighting firm Festive Lights has achieved its best trading year to date following record sales of its range in the UK and Europe.

The Chorley-headquartered company saw indoor, outdoor and decorative lighting sales rise year on year by 41% during 2015/16, with turnover leaping by 14% to £4.4m.

The company’s turnover generated through ecommerce site Amazon, meanwhile, soared by 112% to £833k. Similarly Amazon Prime, which guarantees customers next-day delivery, helped to boost Festive Lights’ order volumes to 56k, up from 22k in 2014-15.

The business operates predominantly online, supported by premises in Charnock Richard, Lancashire, and a retail site in Wigan.

To accommodate the growth, Festive Lights has expanded its workforce by more than a third over the last 12 months, including the appointment of a German language specialist to enable further penetration into the European market.

The firm plans to capitalise on its international sales success by expanding its offer to Amazon Germany, eBay Germany and eBay France later this year.

Festive Lights’ general manager, Stephen Alty, said: “Our success in the last year has been phenomenal.

“Increasing traction in foreign markets will continue to be a major focus going forward and our investment in talented new team members and the new website investment will enable us to maintain our reputation for high levels of customer service and innovation.”

He added: “We’ve such an exciting year ahead with our warehouse and stock holding capacity soon doubling in size and the launch of a new third-party fulfilment and warehousing solution for local firms, set to make the next 12 months even better than the last.”

Founded in 1999 by husband and wife team Mark and Margaret Higginson, today Festive Lights distributes its products to more than 30 countries.

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