It’s 18 months since Retail Week’s last look at the UK’s top retailers by sales and margins and much has changed in that time. Retail Knowledge Bank senior partner Robert Clark reports
Tesco may not have been increasing its UK sales of late as fast as its closest competitors in percentage terms, but in cash terms has still extended its lead at the head of Retail Knowledge Bank’s latest Top 50 UK Retailers league table.
- Full League Table:Top 50 UK Retailers
Sainsbury’s remains in second place in corporate turnover terms, even though Asda has been ahead of Sainsbury’s on TNS till roll data – a fact that remains one of life’s intriguing little mysteries. There is, though, little between them, with both having annual sales that are now less than half Tesco’s UK total.
It is 18 months since the Retail Knowledge Bank table last featured in Retail Week, so many of the retailers have two years’ worth of sales updates. It is noticeable that over this period, while most of the supermarket chains have increased sales, many of the non-food specialists have experienced a sales slip in the deflationary, increasingly competitive and recessionary market environment.
Within the top 10, John Lewis Partnership has moved up a place to seventh spot, while Co-operative Group has broken in at ninth place following its merger with United Co-operatives Its acquisition of Somerfield will push it further up next time, to challenge Marks & Spencer for fifth place. Somerfield and Woolworths feature for the last time.
Entering the chart – and by far the fastest climber – is Game Group at 30. It has more than doubled its UK sales over the past two years, with a heady mix of rapid organic growth plus the acquisition of Gamestation.
Other notable risers include Iceland, up seven places to 15th in a crowded group of 14 retailers with annual sales between £1.5bn and £2.1bn. Despite their above-average sales increases of late, Aldi and Lidl (16 and 19 respectively) have stayed in similar positions, but Netto has moved into the top 50, at 42, advancing 10 places.
Also rising 10 places is fast-expanding value-fashion retailer Primark (27), while the resilient HMV Group has improved five places to number 21 in yet another crowded segment of retailers with sales between £1.6bn and £1.7bn. Further down at 40 Halfords has also advanced five places.
Moving in the opposite direction for the first time after many years of rapid growth is Sports Direct, relegated four places to 36 as its sales slipped back below £1bn. Meanwhile, JJB Sports has slipped 10 places and out of the top 50.
Phones 4U has also suffered a 10-place decline, to 51, after its acquisition from John Caudwell by Providence Equity Partners, while Focus Group has dropped out. Thresher Group (now First Quench) has seen its sales fall sharply, but it has retained its top 50 status for the time being, at 46.
Among those entering the top 50 for the first time are Amazon (41), selling many more products than just books, although its sales have been estimated as it does not release UK figures. Also up 10 places and entering the top 50 is N Brown (48), another – but more traditional – home shopping specialist.
Proportion of sales the Top 50 accounted for in 2008 (%)
Such is the level of concentration in UK retailing that, on the basis of the top 50 table, Retail Knowledge Bank has calculated that these top players accounted for the following proportions of all UK retail sales (approximately £245bn excluding VAT) in 2008:
Top five 40
Top 10 51
Top 20 62
Top 50 75
Risers
- Game Group up 24 places to 30
- Netto up 10 places to 42
- Primark up 10 places to 27
- Iceland up seven places to 15
- HMV Group up five places to 21
New to the top 50
- Game Group (30)
- Amazon.co.uk (41)
- N Brown (48)
Out of the top 50
- JJB Sports
- Phones 4U
- Focus Group
Retail Knowledge Bank’s online subscription service UK’s Top 500 Retailers carries detailed strategic and benchmarking profiles of not only these top 50 operations, but the many important and commonly dynamic retailers that make up the rest of the top 500 leaders, which between them account for approaching 90 per cent of all UK retail sales. For details and examples visit http://rwkb.retail-week.com/ or call Robert Clark on 0208 870 2939.
Topics
- Aldi
- Alliance Boots
- Amazon
- Arcadia
- Asda
- Bhs
- Carphone Warehouse
- Co-operative Group
- Debenhams
- Dixons Retail (DSGi)
- Fashion
- First Quench
- Game
- Grocery
- Halfords
- HMV
- House of Fraser
- Iceland
- Ikea
- John Lewis Partnership
- Kesa
- Kingfisher
- Lidl
- Lloydspharmacy
- Matalan
- McColl's
- Morrisons
- Musgrave (Budgens / Londis)
- N Brown
- Netto
- New Look
- Next
- Peacocks
- Phones 4u
- Primark
- Property
- River Island
- Sainsbury's
- Somerfield
- Spar
- Specsavers
- Sports Direct
- Superdrug
- Technology
- Tesco
- Threshers
- TK Maxx & TJX
- Very Group
- WHSmith
- Wickes
- Wilko
- Woolworths
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