Footasylum joins the winners rostrum as bounce-back continues in latest year

Footasylum appears to be striding forwards strongly, bouncing back from a tough time last decade and the competition authority-driven uncertainty over who should own the brand.

In the end, JD Sports was prevented from absorbing it into its empire and Aurelius has owned it since 2022, during which time it has been investing in growth and opening stores.

This is paying off with the firm on Thursday reporting record revenue and EBITDA for the brand in its second year under the German private equity investor’s umbrella.

That’s good news both for the business but also for its owner, given the negative headlines that have been seen lately around Aurelius after its purchase of and administration filing for The Body Shop.

It’s getting it very right with Footasylum and the company said that the chain’s revenue in the year to the end of last month rose 7% to £320 million, with online accelerating to 42% of the total, up from 40% 12 months earlier.

EBITDA jumped 38% to £22 million, “representing an all-time high”, with the company saying the performance was “helped by close management of gross margin and operating costs”.

That’s despite a tough market in which even its high-flying former (temporary) owner, JD Sports, issued a profit warning.

As mentioned, the company has been opening stores and upsizing others across the UK with the programme including a 20,000 sq ft Oxford Street, London, flagship that opened in September.

It has also opened a 10,000 sq ft store in Lakeside Shopping Centre, Essex; an 11,000 sq ft store in Birmingham Bullring; and a 6,000 sq ft store in Atria Watford. Plus it has upsized its store in Westfield Stratford, with a new Women’s section included; and expanded to 6,000 sq ft in Leicester’s Fosse Park, one of Britain’s biggest out-of-town shopping parks.

Post-period-end, it’s also seen the opening of a Footasylum Women’s store at Leeds White Rose.

The company said sales across all business channels (stores, the app and website, plus wholesale) grew in the year, helped by those openings and the implementation of a “market-leading omnichannel point-of-sale system that enables Footasylum customers to shop seamlessly online and in-store”.

Some operational improvement initiatives were also rolled out, “helping to achieve additional margin”, despite the backdrop of a challenging market.

CEO and executive chairman Barry Brown said: “FY24 was an extremely busy and productive year for Footasylum. We have expanded [its] unique offering across the UK’s busiest high streets and shopping centres. We have also been successful in internationalising the brand by reaching new audiences through our flagship Oxford Street store and by growing our non-UK online sales. 

“In addition, FY24 also saw us perfect our store design and fit-out process, which will enable us to continue our seamless rollout of new and upsized stores as part of our wider omnichannel strategy. 

“In the longer term, we expect this to include the expansion of our store network outside the UK.”