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The Prolific North Top 100 eCommerce Companies in the North 2018

ecom

Welcome to the Prolific North Top 100 eCommerce Companies in the North, our exclusive research focused on the fastest growing part of the region’s tech sector.

The 2018 edition has been put together with the support of lead sponsor Adyen as well as sponsor Smoking Gun PR, with research compiled in association with Knight Corporate Finance.




It ranks the leading ecommerce companies in the region by revenue, with Speke-headquartered Shop Direct – the group behind brands including Very.co.uk and Littlewoods.com – once again heading the list after also coming top in 2017.

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.

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 50 PR Agencies.

To mark the 2018 edition, we have produced a Top 100 eCommerce Companies ebook, which also launches the eCommerce Matters series. We will be publishing further ebooks exploring eCommerce in the months leading up to this year’s eCommerce Show North in November.


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Registration is now open for the eCommerce Show North, which returns to EventCity in Manchester on November 6th and 7th 2018.

Over 2,400 attendees, 106 exhibitors and sponsors and 71 speakers attended the inaugural running of the expo in October, making it the biggest gathering of eCommerce companies, vendors and suppliers held outside London last year.

And you can make sure you are there when the event returns by registering here:


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Hosting company UKFast will once again be the lead sponsor for the event, with CRO specialists Endless Gain, eCommerce website experts Space48, email marketing automation business dotmailer, Product Information Management (PIM) system Pimberly and open-source e-commerce platform Magento all on board as event partners.

For details about how to get involved as an exhibitor, email martyn@prolificnorth.co.uk or visit our dedicated event page here.


The Prolific North Top 100 eCommerce Companies in the North 2018

Sponsored by Adyen and Smoking Gun PR, with research compiled in association by Knight

Rank

Company Revenue (£m) EBIT (£m) Town / city Sub Sector Ownership
1 (1) Shop Direct

1929.90

205.20

Liverpool

Online retailer

Private

2 (2)

N Brown

922.20

118.60

Manchester

Clothing retailer – online and print

PLC

3 (3)

Rentalcars.com

916.70

n/a

Manchester

Car rental broker

Booking Holdings Inc.

4 (4)

AO World PLC

744.50

-12.00

Bolton

Online electrical retailer

PLC

5 (9)

Boohoo

579.80

30.90

Manchester

Online fashion retailer

PLC
6 (6)

The Hut Group

510.00

50.00

Northwich

Multi brand / channel retailer

Private inc PE (Balderton)

7 (5)

Findel

469.90

31.10

Hyde

Multi channel retailer of home and educational products

PLC

8 (11)

Redfern Travel

380.94

12.30

Bradford

Corporate travel

Arizonaco Ltd (private)

9 (7)

Money Supermarket

329.70

97.00

Chester

Financial products broker

PLC

10 (10)

AutoTrader

311.40

207.20

Manchester

Digital motoring advertiser

PLC

11 (8)

Park Group

310.90

10.90

Wirral

A group engaged in mail order and cash savings

PLC

12 (12)

Stella Travel

259.10

9.69

Cheshire

Owns brands Travel Bag & Travel 2

Owned by Dinata

13 (16)

Missguided

205.80

0.50

Manchester

Online fashion retailer

Nakai Investments (Virgin Islands)

14 (13)

Ebuyer.com

188.60

1.20

York

Online electrical retailer, recently introduced homewares

Vida Capital Partners

15 (15)

Buy IT Direct

146.50

1.50

Huddersfield

Online and mail order electrical

Private

16 (14)

Ryman

128.20

7.81

Crewe

Online and instore stationary supplies

Fivefathers Holdings Ltd (Cyprus)

17 (17)

Freemans Plc

121.70

5.50

Bradford

Plus size and fashion for older people

Owned by Otto (Germany)

18 (18)

NyComm 

87.10

3.50

Swinton

Telecoms distributor

Private

19 (24)

Music Magpie

77.00

1.50

Hazel Grove

Second hand goods market place

Private inc Northern Venture Trust

20 (21)

On The Beach

73.90

20.00

Stockport

Online beach holiday retailer

PLC

21 (19)

The Book People

71.80

8.00

Bangor

Online retailer of books and other stationary

Endless (PE)

22 (20)

KitBag

70.60

-0.70

Manchester

Sports merchanise online and mail order

Owned by Fanatics (US)

23 (32)

The Big Word

59.70

1.70

Leeds

Language technology and translation services

Private

24 (25)

Better Bathrooms

59.20

-1.40

Leigh

Multi channel retailer – bathroom

Private (inc BGF)

25 (26)

Destinology

58.30

0.40

Bolton

Luxury online travel

Owned by Saga

26 (23)

Victoria Plum

57.60

-5.70

Hull

Online bathroom / bedroom

Private (inc TPG)

27 (30)

Parcel2Go

56.20

1.70

Bolton

Online parcel delivery services

Private

28 (27)

Gear4Music

56.10

3.20

York

Online international retailer of musical instruments

PLC

29 (33)

Victorian Plumbing

52.78

2.45

Formby

Multi channel retailer – bathroom

Private

30 (29)

Nexus Vehicle

52.10

4.10

Pudsey

Vehicle rental

Private – Axis Top Co (Bowmark CP)

31 (31)

Overclockers

51.70

3.10

Newcastle U Lyme

Gaming computers and peripherals

Owned by Case King

32 (34)

SportsShoes.com

51.40

4.40

Shipley

Online sports retailer

Private

33 (47)

Beauty Bay

51.10

4.20

Manchester

Online cosmetics retailer inc own brand sales

Private

34 (40) Pretty Little Thing

47.70

3.30

Manchester

Online fashion retailer

66% owned by Boohoo

35 (28)

Euro Options

44.50

3.30

Littleborough

IT equipment retailer / wholesaler

Private

36 (35)

PC Specialist

43.90

0.40

Wakefield

Manufacturer and retailer of computer equipment

Private

37 (36)

Cartridge Save

43.78

4.70

Stockport

Online retailer of printer cartidges

Private

38 (42)

Blue Bay Travel

40.00

n/a

Stoke

Online Carribean Travel

Private Equity (LDC)

39 (38)

Pure Collection

38.50

0.10

Harrogate

Multi channel fashion – specialising in cashmere

Private

40 (43)

Zuto

36.80

-2.40

Macclesfield

Car finance credit broker

Private (Scottish Equity Partners)

41 (45)

Fatsoma

36.00

n/a

Manchester

Concert Ticketing

Private Equity AXM

42 (41) Joe Browns

32.80

5.30

Leeds

Online womens and menswear

Private

43 (22)

LateRooms

29.80

-1.10

Manchester

Online travel broker

Cox & Kings Ld (India)

44 (44)

Sykes Cottages

27.20

5.10

Chester

Online travel broker

Private (linc Livingbridge)

45 (-)

Pharmacy 2U

25.80

-20.50

Leeds

Online pharmacy

G Square Private equity

46 (-)

Innox

25.50

0.58

Skelmersdale

Online pharmacy

Private

47 (54)

OCF

23.90

0.98

Sheffield

IT data storage and analytics

Private

48 (49)

Fragrance Direct

20.10

0.80

Macclesfield

Online fragrance and cosmetics retail

Private

49 (50)

Planet X

20.00

1.20

Rotherham

Online retailer of bicycles

Private

50 (51) Getting Personal.co.uk

17.67

2.35

Manchester

Online personalised gifts

Card Factory PLC

51 (52)

Techbuyer

17.20

2.80

Harrogate

Sale of IT equipment

Private

52

Cyclesport North

15.25

-1.04

Preston

Bicycle importer, and online retailer

Private (inc True Capital)

53

Scan Coin

15.20

1.30

Salford

B2B retailer of cash handling equipment

Suzohapp (US)

54

Tyres on the Drive

15.15

0.00

Holmes Chapel

Automotive

VC & Halfords

55

Public Desire

14.00

n/a

Manchester

Fashion

Private
56

LED Hut

12.98

-1.30

Manchester

Online lighting retailer

Private (Jersey)

57

Bathroom Takeaway

11.00

n/a

Manchester

Online bathrooms

Private

58 BT Shop (fka Dabs.com)

10.50

0.20

Bolton

Online electrical / IT retailer

SS of BT

59

Grafenia

10.40

-0.63

Manchester

Printing

Private

60

A One Distribution

1-10

n/a

Bury

B2B online computer components

Private

Approved Foods

1-10

n/a

Bradford

Online retailer of clearance food & drink

Private

Better2know

1-10

n/a

Morecambe

Sexual health

Private

Cliq Designs

1-10

n/a

Rochdale

Manufacturer

Bolton Textiles Ltd

Clothingsites

1-10

-1.40

Bury

Retail sale of clothing online via several websites

Private

Contact Hire and Leasing.com

1-10

n/a

Stockport

Car rental

Private

Contour Cosmetics

1-10

n/a

Nantwich

Sale of cosmetics

Private

Country Attire

1-10

n/a

Preston

Clothing to worn in the countryside

Private

Cruise Compare

1-10

n/a

Tyne & Wear

Cruise comparison site

Private

Currentbody.com

1-10

n/a

Cheadle

Sale of beauty products

Private

Fallen Hero

1-10

n/a

Scunthorpe

Menswear retailer

Private

Fruugo.co.uk

1-10

n/a

Ulverston

Home, beauty, fashion, electronics

Private

Healthy Food Supplies

1-10

n/a

Liverpool

Healthy food

Private

HGS UK Trading

1-10

n/a

Bury

Wholesale supplies of household goods, lighting and cosmetics

Private

Ice Lolly

1-10

3.05

Leeds

Price comparison

Private Equity

In The Style

1-10

0.33

Salford

Social media-led fashion

Private Equity Living Bridge

Interrisk Solutions

1-10

n/a

Wirral

Legal services broker

Private

JamJar Direct

1-10

n/a

Whitefield

Vehicle sales & leasing

Private

Lavish Alice

1-10

n/a

Manchester

Fashion

Private

Little Black Dress

1-10

n/a

Manchester

Fashion

Private

Looking4.com

1-10

n/a

Leeds

Car parking

Private

Manière De Voir

1-10

n/a

Manchester

Fashion

Private

Moda Furnishings

1-10

n/a

Manchester

Furniture

Private

Money Guru

1-10

n/a

Macclesfield

Financial products broker

Quint Holdings

My Parcel Delivery

1-10

0.50

Manchester

Parcel delivery

Private inc Praetura and Northern Venture Trust

Now Healthcare Group

1-10

n/a

Salford

Health

Private

Pimoroni

1-10

n/a

Sheffield

Sales of small IT producs

Angels

Pink Boutique

1-10

n/a

Newcastle

Fashion

Private

PJA Distribution

1-10

n/a

Stockton-on-Tees

Sale of mobile phone accessories

Private

Predator Nutrition

1-10

n/a

Leeds

Nutrition products

Private

Push Doctor

1-10

n/a

Manchester

Medical

Various VCs including Draper Espirit

Realy Good Domains

1-10

n/a

Hazel Grove

Online car marketing

Private

Sonik Sports

1-10

n/a

Blythe

Fishing tackle retailer

Private

Spark Etail

1-10

0.09

Gateshead

Ecommerce fullfillment platform

Private

The 1st Stop Group

1-10

n/a

Blackpool

Retail loans

Private

The Car Buying Group

1-10

n/a

Bradford

Online car buying service

Private

The Superbike Factory

1-10

n/a

Macclesfield

Online motorbike retailer

Private

Ticket Line Network

1-10

0.40

Manchester

Ticketing business

Private

Time2

1-10

n/a

Blackburn

Security

Private

Toxic Fox

1-10

n/a

Stockport

Online gifts Private

Who Can Fix My Car

1-10 n/a

North Shields

Car mechanic aggregator

Private Equity (Active PE)

2017 ranking in brackets

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