The Adderley family coffers have been swelled by impressive results at Dunelm Mill – the home furnishing retailer they founded 30 years ago. The company hugely exceeded expectations in its 2009-10 results.
In the year to June 2010, the Adderleys’ Dunelm retail chain reported pre-tax profits up by a huge 46 per cent to £76.8 million. And the trend continues, with sales for the remainder of 2010 continuing to rise despite City expectations of a fall.
Continuing to buck the trend with sustained growth has meant a big increase in the value of the Leicester-based company which has been lead by Will Adderley for the last 15 years.
Now, though, Will has decided to step down as chief executive to take on a more focused role, carrying the title of executive deputy chairman.
Nick Wharton, formerly finance director at Halfords, takes on the chief executive role.
The company – with its slogan “Simple value for money” – has recently opened its 107th store in Hereford, with other new outlets in Torquay, Milton Keynes and Barrow-in-Furness among others.
The expansion trail continues with plans to open anything up to 200 stores in the UK.
The decision by Will Adderley – who owns 35 per cent of the business – and his parents Bill and Jean to float Dunelm for £340 million seems a shrewd one.
Since flotation in October 2006, the Leicestershire-based company has expanded rapidly, enjoying a big demand for its soft furnishing products.
This has meant big dividends for the family and Dunelm shareholders. The enterprise, which trades under the Dunelm Mill brand, began life as a curtain stall run by Bill and Jean Adderley in a Leicester market. That was 30 years ago. Now it employs around 6,000 people and is growing by the month.
Bill and Jean Adderley opened their first Dunelm store in Churchgate, Leicester in 1984. Their first superstore opened in Rotherham in 1991.
Now Dunelm – headquartered in Syston – has stores in town centres and out-of-town locations from Aberdeen in the north to Plymouth in the south, with more planned this year and older stores being refurbished.
The company also has a bespoke manufacturing operation and an online business. Chief executive Will Adderley puts the family firm’s success down to high footfalls at its out-of-town locations, a strong and stable management team and the successful commissioning of a central warehouse in Stoke.
Thirty-nine year-old chief executive Will Adderley took over day-to-day control of the business from his father in 1996. His mother Jean netted £102 million from the sale of her 30 per cent stake in the company. Will’s father and mother retain a 24 per cent stake.
Will joined the business in 1993 after gaining a degree in industrial economics at Nottingham University.
