​Lush to open new factory in Germany to meet strong demand

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Feb 3, 2016

Lush, the British manufacturer and retailer of handmade cosmetics, is to open a new factory in Dusseldorf, Germany to supply most of mainland Europe by the end of its 2015/16 financial year, as it says its 7 facilities are being stretched producing 49% more items than the previous year.

According to accounts recently filed at Companies House, Lush enjoyed a strong 2014/15 financial year, with total group turnover growth of 15.6% in the twelve months ended 30 June 2015. Excluding the impact of currency movements, total group turnover rose 23.3% on last year, reflecting strong underlying like-for-like growth of 22% across all markets.

The US reported sales growth of 63% on the previous year, while the UK business recorded a 38.8% surge helped by the Christmas season. Lush’ third largest market, Japan, continued its decline at -11.2% for the year.

The cosmetics brand, famous for its fragrant bath bombs, has 940 shops in 50 countries, of which 106 are located in the UK. In April 2015, the company opened its 9,500th store, a flagship, on Oxford Street, which has enjoyed monthly sales four times higher than the retailer’s second busiest shop. The opening is part of the company’s strategy to launch more shops in prime locations with high turnover potential.

During the period, Lush also relocated its Australia factory to larger premises to cater for its own growth and opened a new factory in Brazil to supply new shops in that market and potentially the rest of South America.

According to accounts, sales in the first quarter of the new financial year have continued the positive trend with like-for-like growth of 23.9%.