Internet retailer The Hut Group has won the Bank of Scotland Corporate’s £35m
Entrepreneur Challenge, beating six other regional finalists to the fiercely
contested prize.
The nationwide hunt for Britain’s best entrepreneurial business reached its
climax during a packed award ceremony at the Royal Courts of Justice in
London.
In addition to the £5m of interest-free funding for up to three years, The Hut
Group won four days of mentoring with famed entrepreneur Sir Tom Hunter.
Peter Cummings, chief executive of Bank of Scotland Corporate, paid tribute to
the firm, which has grown from its foundation in 2004 to sales of £27m this
year. “ The judges were all impressed by The Hut. They have a unique and
highly cash-generative business model and have significant growth
potential,” said Cummings.
The Cheshire-based company’s co-founders, John Gallemore and Matthew John
Moulding, expressed their surprise at winning the overall final just two
weeks after picking up the regional prize.
“I feel numb. I’m so shocked I’m shaking,” said Moulding. “It’s quite an
emotional thing. My dad flew in from Canada, so it’s great he could be here
to see it.”
Gallemore said The Hut team had not been counting on success after seeing the
quality of the other finalists.
“Everyone on our table was going through the finalists and agreed that almost
every one of them could win it. It was pretty depressing.”
The mentoring prize would make a big difference to the company, said Moulding.
“It’s a very special thing to get four days with Sir Tom Hunter. He has a
wealth of experience which will be a huge help to us. Winning the award also
gives us credibility that will really help us win new business and attract
more good employees.”
One of the factors in The Hut Group’s success was its strong growth prospects
both in its own online retail business and the ones it runs for high-street
brands such as Asda, the Cooperative and Phones4U, said Moulding.
“We give people a proposition that requires zero investment of time or money
and we make it a success for them.
“I think we also showed the judges we have pretty good survival skills. We
started out in the Caudwell Group, which was a good grounding in being able
to look at risk and we’ve never lost that fear that things can go wrong.”
The group’s success was also down to its ability to demonstrate its “sheer
determination and a never-say-die attitude,” added Gallemore.
“We went through difficult times in the early years. We’ve experienced stress
so bad it hurts, that sense of worry about whether you’re going to survive
and the feeling of losing £1m of the money we had put in during the first
years.”
Their success was also down to the work of The Hut Group’s staff and the
loyalty of its customers, said Moulding.
“The dedication of the team in the office has been exceptional. I have to
congratulate Bank of Scotland Corporate, too. This is a truly innovative
competition, there’s nothing like this out there and they’ve stuck through
it in very difficult circumstances.”
The company, which sells consumer products such as DVDs, computer games and
electronics through its own website, and also operates online shops for
other retailers, will use the prize to continue its rapid product expansion,
said Moulding.
“We’ve moved into three new categories – perfume; lingerie and swimwear; and
outdoor and leisure goods – in the last four weeks and we will continue to
expand the product range.
“That takes us up to 10 categories and we have five more categories planned
for early next year. We’re also looking at acquisitions; bolt-on small
businesses such as an acquisition in the pet market.”
Moulding said the group would be able to make good use of the mentoring from
Hunter. “I’d like to know when we get Sir Tom’s mobile-phone number because
we’ve got an awful lot to get on with,” he said.
The six other finalists, who all won £5m interest-free loans after triumphing
in their own respective regions of the UK, were pet-food maker Butcher’s Pet
Care; children’s homes and foster-care firm Five Rivers Childcare;
research-and-recruitment consultancy Fresh-Minds; pipe-jointing company
Fusion Group; out-of-hours emergency vetinerary-services business Vets Now;
and cheese-maker Wyke Farms.
Matthew Riley, chief executive of Daisy Communications, last year’s national
winner and a judge in this year’s final, said: “TheHut.com is a worthy
winner. They have a brilliant management team and a clear vision of where to
take the product.
“Winning the challenge will help to develop the business further and allow
Matthew and his team to network with high-profile entrepreneurs and achieve
what they want for the future of the organisation.”
Cummings also commended the quality of all the regional winners: “Listening to
the presentations today has been truly inspirational.
“Every business displayed traits of true entrepreneurialism, good unique
selling propositions, focus and capability.”
