Farfetch is UK's fastest growing retailer, Primark enjoys biggest revenue uplift

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 5, 2017

It may seem unlikely that a luxury company is beating some of the biggest names in the UK sector on the retail revenues growth front, but it is.

Farfetch, the e-tail luxury marketplace that also owns Browns is out in front and is head of retail powerhouses such as Superdry, Asos and JD Sports.

But while Farftech led in percentage terms, Primark saw the biggest growth in actual financial terms.

Who says so? OC&C Strategy Consultants and Financo have released a retail growth index that shows Farfetch shooting to the top after 70% growth last year.

And second place on the percentage growth list went to The Hut Group with 50% growth. That would perhaps no surprise if the figures related to 2017, given the acquisition spree Hut has been on in recent months, but even last year it was clearly expanding fast.

Joint third place went to JD Sports and Wren Kitchens with a 31% revenue rise each, while a trio of expanding names, Asos, Well Pharnacy and toy chain Smyths, each enjoyed a 28% surge.

The remaining names in the top 10 were Superdry and Screwfix with 27% growth, and discount giant B&M on 25%.

But some of these firms were boosted by acquisitions or are smaller so their percentage growth figures might not translate into such big numbers compared to other names not on the list. 

If we look at the index from the viewpoint of how much growth companies saw in absolute terms, as mentioned, Primark tops the list with £602 million worth of growth. It’s followed by JD Sports, with a £558 million boost. Farfetch only came sixth here with a £268 million uplift last year.

On that list, Burberry came in fourth ahead of TK Maxx, Screwfix and Morrisons.

Globally, Amazon topped the ranking with an extra £23.5 billion added onto its revenue last year. That was more than the next four on the list combined. It was followed at number two by JD,com (big rival Alibaba was 10th).
Globally for companies worth less than £2.5 billion, Blue Apron, Farfetch and The Hut Group were the fastest growers and UK names accounted for over half of the top 20 in this category.