Today we launch a brand new piece of research focusing on the fastest growing part of the North’s tech sector: ecommerce.
The Prolific North Top 100 eCommerce Companies in the North is jointly sponsored by Knight Corporate Finance and Barclays, with research compiled in association with Knight.
For the first time, it identifies the leading ecommerce companies in the region, ranked by revenue.
Speke-headquartered Shop Direct – the group behind brands including Very.co.uk and Littlewoods.com – heads the list by some distance having enjoyed considerable success since switching to a pureplay digital retailer in 2015.
N Brown, the group behind brands including Jacamo and JD Williams, is the second biggest company by revenue, while another Manchester-based company, Rentalcars.com, makes up the top three.
In fact the North West dominates the list, with the leading Yorkshire-based ecommerce – Bradford-based corporate travel company Redfern – ranked at 11th. Across the whole of the top 100, 21 are based in Yorkshire.
The Top 100 eCommerce Companies in the North follows our other ground-breaking research features, which include the Top 50 Digital Agencies, the Top 50 Integrated Agencies and the Top In-house Communicators.
We have also just revealed the first confirmed speakers for eCommerce Show North, set to be the biggest ever gathering of eCommerce companies, vendors and suppliers ever held outside London, as well as the most recent companies to have signed up to exhibit.
Taking place over October 11th and 12th 2017 at EventCity in Manchester, this brand new event will have capacity for 4,000 attendees and 120 exhibiting businesses.
Prolific North Top 100 eCommerce Companies in the North
jointly sponsored by Knight Corporate Finance and Barclays
| Names | Revenue £m | EBIT £m | Town / City | Sub Sector | Ownership | |
| 1 | Shop Direct | 1,861.0 | 222.0 | Liverpool | Online retailer | PLC |
| 2 | N Brown | 866.0 | 98.0 | Manchester | Clothing retailer – online and print | PLC |
| 3 | Rentalcars.com | 734.0 | 67.0 | Manchester | Car rental broker | Owned by Priceline Group Inc |
| 4 | AO World | 599.0 | (2.0) | Bolton | Online electrical retailer | PLC |
| 5 | Findel | 411.0 | 15.0 | Hyde | Multi-channel retailer of home and educational products | PLC |
| 6 | The Hut Group | 334.0 | 21.0 | Northwich | Multi brand/channel retailer | Private inc PE (Balderton) |
| 7 | MoneySuperMarket | 316.0 | 94.0 | Chester | Financial products broker | PLC |
| 8 | Park Group | 302.0 | 10.4 | Merseyside | A group engaged in mail order and cash savings | PLC |
| 9 | Boohoo | 295.0 | 36.0 | Manchester | Online fashion retail | AIM listed |
| 10 | Autotrader | 281.0 | 172.0 | Manchester | Digital motoring advertiser | PLC |
| 11 | Redfern Travel | 252.0 | 4.0 | Bradford | Corporate travel | Arizonaco Ltd (private) |
| 12 | Stella Travel | 241.0 | 11.7 | Cheshire | Travel group behind brands such as Travelbag & Travel 2 | Owned by Dinata |
| 13 | Ebuyer.com | 189.0 | 2.0 | York | Online electrical and homewares retailer | Vida Capital Partners |
| 14 | Ryman | 128.0 | 10.0 | Crewe | Online and in-store stationery supplies | Fivefathers Holdings Ltd (Cyprus) |
| 15 | Buy IT Direct | 121.0 | 3.0 | Huddersfield | Online and mail order electrical retailer | Private |
| 16 | Missguided | 117.0 | 1.0 | Manchester | Online fashion retail | Nakai Investments (Virgin Islands) |
| 17 | Freemans Plc | 115.0 | 3.9 | Bradford | Plus size and fashion for older people | Owned by Otto (Germany) |
| 18 | NyComm | 82.0 | 3.4 | Swinton | Telecoms distributor | Private |
| 19 | The Book People | 71.8 | 8.0 | Bangor | Online retailer of books and other stationery | Endless (PE) |
| 20 | KitBag | 71.0 | (7.0) | Middleton | Sports merchandise online and mail order | Fanatics (US) |
| 21 | On The Beach | 71.0 | 17.0 | Stockport | Online beach holiday retailer | PLC |
| 22 | LateRooms | 70.0 | (15.0) | Manchester | Online travel broker | Cox & Kings Ld (India) |
| 23 | Victoria Plum | 70.0 | (12.0) | Hull | Online bathroom/bedroom | Private (inc TPG) |
| 24 | Music Magpie | 61.0 | 2.0 | Hazel Grove | Second hand goods market place | Private inc Northern Venture Trust |
| 25 | Better Bathrooms | 59.0 | (64.0) | Leigh | Multi-channel bathroom products retailer | Private (inc BGF) |
| 26 | Destinology | 59.0 | 1.1 | Bolton | Luxury online travel | Owned by Saga |
| 27 | Gear4Music | 56.0 | 4.0 | York | Online international retailer of musical instruments | PLC |
| 28 | Euro Options | 50.0 | 3.7 | Littleborough | IT equipment retailer/wholesaler | Private |
| 29 | Nexus Vehicle | 48.0 | 3.6 | Pudsey | Vehicle rental | Private – Axis Top Co (Bowmark CP) |
| 30 | Parcel2Go | 44.0 | 0.0 | Bolton | Online parcel delivery services | Private |
| 31 | Overclockers | 43.6 | 2.8 | Newcastle U Lyme | Gaming computers and peripherals | Owned by Case King |
| 32 | The Big Word | 43.0 | (0.7) | Leeds | Language technology and translation services | Private |
| 33 | Victorian Plumbing | 42.2 | 2.2 | Formby | Multi-channel bathroom products retailer | Private |
| 34 | SportsShoes.com | 41.3 | 1.6 | Shipley | Online sports retailer | Private |
| 35 | PC Specialist | 38.0 | 0.5 | Wakefield | Manufacturer and retailer of computer equipment | Private |
| 36 | Cartridge Save | 36.9 | 2.9 | Stockport | Online retailer of printer cartridges | Private |
| 37 | Dabs.com | 36.0 | 0.6 | Bolton | Online electrical/IT retailer | SS of BT |
| 38 | Pure Collection | 31.0 | 0.2 | Harrogate | Multi channel fashion retailer, specialising in cashmere | Private |
| 39 | Kiddicare | 30.0 | N/A | Leeds | Online nursery and children’s products retailer | Dunelm PLC |
| 40 | Pretty Little Thing | 30.0 | N/A | Manchester | Women’s fashion | 66% owned by Boohoo |
| 41 | Joe Browns | 28.0 | 5.0 | Leeds | Online womens and menswear | Private |
| 42 | Blue Bay Travel | 28.0 | 1.8 | Stoke | Online Caribbean Travel | Private Equity (LDC) |
| 43 | Zuto | 23.0 | (5.0) | Macclesfield | Car finance credit broker | Private (Scottish Equity Partners) |
| 44 | Sykes Cottages | 22.0 | 3.2 | Chester | Online travel broker – UK | Private (linc Livingbridge) |
| 45 | Fatsoma | 21.0 | 0.6 | Manchester | Concert ticketing | Private Equity AXM |
| 46 | Direct Golf | 20.8 | 0.5 | Manchester | Multi-channel retailer of sporting goods | 25% owned by Sports Direct |
| 47 | Beauty Bay | 20.3 | 1.0 | Manchester | Online cosmetics retailer | Private |
| 48 | Bathroom Takeaway | 20.0 | N/A | Manchester | Online bathrooms | Private |
| 49 | Fragrance Direct | 19.0 | 0.8 | Macclesfield | Online fragrance and cosmetics retail | Private |
| 50 | Planet X | 18.3 | 0.2 | Rotherham | Online bicycle retailer | Private |
| 51 | GettingPersonal.co.uk | 18.0 | 3.7 | Manchester | Online personalised gifts | Card Factory PLC |
| 52 | Techbuyer | 17.0 | 1.7 | Harrogate | IT equipment retailer | Private |
| 53 | Cyclesport North | 17.0 | 0.7 | Preston | Bicycle importer and online retailer | Private (inc True Capital) |
| 54 | OCF | 17.0 | 0.8 | Sheffield | IT data storage and analytics | Private |
| 55 | The 1st Stop Group | 12.0 | 2.9 | Blackpool | Retail loans | Private |
| 56 | Tyres On The Drive | 12.0 | N/A | Holmes Chapel | Online tyre retailer | VC & Halfords |
| 57 | Chemist Direct | 11.0 | (3.0) | Oldbury | Online pharmacy supplies, dispensing chemist | Merged with Pharmacy2U, investment from Atomico |
| 58 | Grafenia | 10.8 | N/A | Manchester | Printing | Private |
| 59 | Country Attire | 10.5 | 0.0 | Preston | Clothing for the countryside | Private |
| 60 | LED Hut | 10.0 | (1.0) | Manchester | Online lighting retailer | Private (Jersey) |
| 61 | Ice Lolly | 8.9 | 0.9 | Leeds | Price comparison travel website | Private Equity |
| 62 | A One Distribution | 8.6 | 0.6 | Bury | B2B online computer components | Private |
| 63 | Clothingsites | 8.6 | (2.0) | Bury | Online fashion retailer via several websites | Private |
| 64 | Scan Coin | 6.7 | 0.2 | Salford | B2B retailer of cash handling equipment | USA based PLC |
| 65 | Ingleby | 6.5 | 3.3 | Crewe | Sells B2B parts online | SS on innovation group |
| 66 | In The Style | 5-10 | N/A | Salford | Social media-led fashion | Private Equity Living Bridge |
| 67 | Misco | 5-10 | N/A | Manchester | IT Hardware retailer | Private |
| 68 | Pink Boutique | 5-10 | N/A | Newcastle | Fashion retailer | Private |
| 69 | The Superbike Factory | 5-10 | N/A | Macclesfield | Online motorbike retailer | Private |
| 70 | The Car Buying Group | 5-10 | N/A | Bradford | Online car buying service | Private |
| 71 | WhoCanFixMyCar | 5-10 | N/A | North Shields | Car mechanic aggregator | Private Equity Active PE |
| 72 | Currentbody.com | 4.6 | N/A | Cheadle | Beauty products retailer | Private |
| 73 | Ticketline | 4.2 | (0.1) | Manchester | Ticketing business | Private |
| 74 | Spark Etail | 3.9 | 0.1 | Gateshead | Ecommerce fulfillment platform | Private |
| 75 | City Car Club | 3.0 | N/A | Leeds | Vehicle rental | Enterprise PLC |
| 76 | Little Black Dress | 3.0 | neg | Manchester | Fashion retailer | Private |
| 77 | My Parcel Delivery | 2.4 | (1.0) | Manchester | Parcel delivery | Private inc Praetura and Northern Venture Trust |
| 78 | Toxic Fox | 2.2 | N/A | Stockport | Online gift retailer | Private |
| 79 | Approved Foods | <5 | N/A | Bradford | Online retailer of clearance food and drink | Private |
| 80 | Car 2 U | <5 | N/A | Sunderland | Vehicle rental specialising in 4×4 | Private |
| 81 | Cliq Designs | <5 | N/A | Rochdale | Manufacturer | Private |
| 82 | Contour Cosmetics | <5 | N/A | Nantwich | Cosmetics retailer | Private |
| 83 | Curar Animal Theraputics | <5 | N/A | Ouseburn | Pet products | Private |
| 84 | Digital High Street | <5 | N/A | Brighouse | Online homewares specialist | Private |
| 85 | Dolphin Music | <5 | N/A | Liverpool | Musical instruments | Private |
| 86 | Fallen Hero | <5 | N/A | Scunthorpe | Menswear retailer | Private |
| 87 | HGS UK Trading | <5 | N/A | Bury | Wholesale supplies of household goods, lighting and cosmetics | Private |
| 88 | Interrisk Solutions | <5 | N/A | Wirral | Legal services broker | Private |
| 89 | JamJar Direct | <5 | N/A | Whitefield | Vehicle sales and leasing | Private |
| 90 | Pimoroni | <5 | N/A | Sheffield | Sales of small IT products | Angels |
| 91 | PJA Distribution | <5 | N/A | Stockton-on-Tees | Sale of mobile phone accessories | Private |
| 92 | Predator Nutrition | <5 | N/A | Leeds | Nutrition products | Private |
| 93 | Really Good Domains | <5 | N/A | Hazel Grove | Online car marketing | Private |
| 94 | Sonik Sports | <5 | N/A | Blyth | Fishing tackle retailer | Private |
| 95 | Cruise Compare | <1 | N/A | Tyne & Wear | Cruise comparison site | Private |
| 96 | Glamorous Travel | <1 | N/A | Manchester | UK based travel operator | Private |
| 97 | Juxdit | <1 | N/A | Liverpool | Sale of start up products over social media | Private |
| 98 | Labels Sneak | <1 | N/A | Leeds | Branded clothing retail | Private |
| 99 | Web Translations | <1 | N/A | Leeds | Online translations | Private |
| 100 | Have we missed your company? If so, email david@prolificnorth.co.uk |
See our other research tables:
The Prolific North Top 50 Digital Agencies
The Prolific North Top 50 PR Agencies
The Prolific North Top 50 Integrated Agencies
The Prolific North Top 100 Brands
