Type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Retail & Technology |
Founded | March 2004[1] |
Headquarters | Northwich, Cheshire[1], United Kingdom |
Products | Books Blu-ray CDs Computing DVDs Electronics Gifts Health & Beauty Lingerie Perfume Sports & Leisure equipment Video Games.[1] |
Services | White label e-commerce[1] |
Revenue | £87 million[2] |
Employees | 500+[3] |
Subsidiaries | The Hut.com Limited (TheHut.com) The Hut.com (Trading) Limited Fourphill (Trading) Limited Zavvi Limited (Zavvi.com) |
Website | The Hut Group TheHut.com Zavvi.com |
The Hut Group is an online retailer based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2004 by CEO Matthew Moulding, it sells non-perishable health and beauty, entertainment, fashion, bags, footwear and gifts.
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In March 2004, The Hut Group was founded to compete with websites like Play.com[1] In July 2004 the company's online entertainment retailer was launched. In 2008, DCC Group approached TheHut.com to take over operations of its online retailer Sendit.com.
On 8 August 2008, The Hut.com became sponsors of Burnley Football Club.[4]
On April 15th 2010 The Hut Group Raised £14M to fund its growth and acquisition. [5]
In August 2010, The Hut Group acquired iwantoneofthose.com, a UK based online gift retailer and Confetti.co.uk, a wedding website. [6] The Hut Group put Confetti.co.uk into administration, just days after buying it, which prompted bids from several consortia and individual investors. Confetti.co.uk was bought by an unknown investor.
The Hut Group continues its acquisition progress in a deal worth the £1.4m [7]. On Thursday 25 November 2010, The Hut Group bought Mankind Direct Limited, incorporating www.Mankind.co.uk & www.BeautyExpert.co.uk. The Group bought HQHair.com on Friday 14th January 2011 [8]. On 16th January, 2011, the Group announced its 2010 trading results. Its entertainment sales rose 45% and non-entertainment sales up 600% since 2010[9]. On 2nd June, 2011, The Hut Group acquired MyProtein.com partners with MuscleGen.co.uk [10].
On 24 December 2008, the entertainment retailer Zavvi entered into administration.[11] On 27 February 2009, The Hut Group acquired the Zavvi.co.uk online brand from administrators Ernst and Young for an undisclosed sum.[12] The website was re-launched on 2 March, 2009, retaining the same branding. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hut Group.
In September 2009 The Hut Group topped the Tech Track 100 list of fastest growing technology companies in the United Kingdom.[13] In 2007 and 2008 The Hut Group topped the table for North West England, whilst rising steadily through the national table.
In November 2008, the Hut Group won the Bank of Scotland North West Entrepreneur Challenge, with the prize of a £5 million interest free loan.[14] On 5 February 2009, the company was voted the United Kingdom's best entrepreneur after beating the other regional finalists.[15]
TheHut.com and Zavvi.com currently sell Books, Blu-ray, CDs, Computing, DVDs, Electronics, Gifts, Lingerie, Perfume, Sports & Leisure equipment and Video Games.[1] CDs, DVDs and games are shipped from the Channel Islands due to favourable tax rates, other items are shipped from the UK mainland.[16][17]