Home Bargains

History

The retailer was founded by owner Tom Morris in 1976 as a single store in Old Swan, Liverpool when aged just 21. Morris started the business by obtaining a bank overdraft, with typical average takings initially reaching around £85 per week and was estimated in 2014 to have a personal wealth of £2.05 billion, which by 2016 had increased to over £3 billion, making him at that time the second richest man in the North West of England. Morris, who was reported to have still owned an 89% stake in the business as of 2013, operates the company with his older brother Tommy.

The business has since grown to become one of the largest privately owned companies within the UK, selling a variety of household items including food, clothing and games to name a few across up to 4000 product lines.

Customer numbers were estimated to be in excess of 3 million in 2013, with items sold typically consisting of 70% regular lines and the rest as one-off product lines. The retailer was ranked 6th in a Which? list of 100 top stores, making them the highest ranking retailer within the United Kingdom.

Growth

The retailer gained approval in 2008 to construct new headquarters in Merseyside, which it estimated would create 700 jobs at the Axis business park, Croxteth, as it constructed a 10-storey distribution centre and retail training facility.

A £70m distribtuion centre began construction in 2013 in Wiltshire, England as a duplicate of their 700,000 sq ft (65,000 m²) facility that they had opened at it's Liverpool headquarters some years prior, in order that their expansion plans could be maintained.

Sales strategies

The strap-line of the retailer is "Top Brand, Bottom Prices", with operations director Joe Morris explaining their business model of acquiring stock at the same cost price as the larger supermarkets, but selling them to the public at a cheaper price.

In August 2011, Home Bargains opened a website to enable customers to shop with them online.

Stores and branding

Home Bargains stores have red and blue branding. They can usually be found in major shopping streets, as well as in shopping centres and arcades. Most are centrally located though several are in out-of-town retail parks. Stores range from small to medium outlets, with the retail park outlets being slightly larger. Store sizes in 2013 were typically between 10,000 sq ft (930 m²) and 25,000 sq ft (2,300 m²).

In 2009, the retailer acquired 14 former Woolworths stores from the failed Woolworths Group chain. These stores include Cardiff and Port Talbot in Wales. In Fife, Scotland, two former Woolworths stores have been opened in shopping centres in Glenrothes and Kirkcaldy.

National expansion

The retailer had aspirations to expand in countries outside of England in 2007, though owner Tom Morris was keen to ensure such expansion was controlled to avoid the risk of over expansion.

The retailer announced in October 2008 that preparations are underway to expand into Scotland for the first time, opening their first store in Rutherglen in December 2008. There are plans to invest more than £10m in its first group of stores, and by March 2009 the company aims to have six stores within the Glasgow area, employing more than 200 people.

In February 2010, the company's £25 million Northern Ireland expansion plan was announced, with plans to have opened up to 25 stores by 2015 to add to their then-portfolio of 190 stores.

Financial performance

The retailer has seen strong sales growth over the past few years, with turnover more than doubling in a 4-year-period (2011 to 2015).

In 2009, the firm was aiming to be turning over £1bn a year by 2015, having grown the number of its stores to 350, with the potential for 600 across the UK. Their turnover exceeded the £1billion mark in 2013, two years earlier than initially anticipated. The retailer aims to reach the £2billion annual turnover mark by 2020.

Affiliates

Home Bargains is also the supplier of similar discount chain Quality Save, whom is supplies all stock, shop fittings, trolleys and tills.

Sporting ventures

From 2013 until 2016, Home Bargains were kit sponsors of National League side Tranmere Rovers in a "six figure" deal, replacing long term sponsors Wirral Council. The sponsorship ended when Rovers signed a 3 year sponsorship deal with B&M Waste Services.

Litigation

The retailer was fined over £20,000 in 2017 after being caught selling phone chargers that risked exploding. The chargers had been imported from China yet had not undergone sufficient safety checks by the retailer, despite Trading Standards having carried out five failed safety checks on the product. Despite being able to produce a Chinese test certificate indicating that a sample product was safety compliant, Home Bargains subsequentally admitted to three offences of electrical safety through the sale of unsafe charges during 2015.