The Very Group

The Very Group operates Littlewoods and Very as digital-only, finance-centric retailers. It covers most product categories from fashion to electricals and homeware. Originally conceived as a catalogue retailer under the name Shop Direct, it stopped the presses in 2015 to focus on improving its online customer experience through the early adoption of personalisation and artificial intelligence. Elsewhere, the retailer runs logistics firms Yodel, Arrow XL and Collect+ and has invested heavily in its supply chain to consolidate its disparate fulfilment centres into one automated site. More recently, The Very Group was plagued with soaring PPI reparation costs, which cast doubt on its ability to continue trading, although it has since received additional funding to cover its liabilities.