Very Group posts strong Christmas sales and names new chair

Sales at Very, which primarily trades through its eponymous website, climbed 21.9% on a two-year basis as categories such as electricals and home performed strongly.

Very Group chief executive Henry Birch said: “Thanks to the hard work and commitment of our people, we’ve delivered another amazing Christmas for our customers and strong trading results for the period.

“Very recorded outstanding double-digit growth compared with the pre-pandemic festive season in 2019, as our customers enjoyed a more normal Christmas.

“They bought back into fashion, focused on wellness, got their hands on the latest consoles and doubled-down on Christmas decorations to make up for last year’s more muted celebrations.

“Our performance was supported by our strong supplier and delivery partner relationships and our highly automated fulfilment centre Skygate.

“While the next 12 months will no doubt bring challenges as we all continue to navigate life around Covid-19, the last two years have shown that our model, which combines multi-category digital retail with our Very Pay platform, is both highly resilient and highly relevant. 

“We’re going into the new year with great momentum and are well set to keep building on our success.”

Very, which is owned by the Barclay family and is thought to be considering an IPO, also named Dirk Van den Berghe, as non-executive chair. Van den Berghe is a former Walmart executive vice-president and regional chief executive for Asia and global sourcing.

He added: “Dirk has successfully transformed and grown some of the very best companies in ecommerce, marketplaces and payments, and we believe he will make a material difference in helping us achieve our growth aspirations.

“He is the perfect person to lead our board and assist with strategic options that we are considering over the coming year as we enter the next important phase of the group’s development.”