GRS steps out for European success
Oct 22 2007 by Grame King, The Journal
A CENTURY old shoe company from Newcastle is aiming to double its turnover as it drives growth through European sales.
George Rye & Sons (GRS) has been quietly expanding its business over the decades and now stands on the brink of major growth.
The company, based in Shieldfield in Newcastle but soon to move to bigger premises in Cramlington, currently enjoys a substantial seven figure turnover, which has doubled over the last seven to eight years, and the aim is to double it again over the next few years.
The fourth generation of the family, Michael Rye, now heads the company while his son Martin is GRS’s marketing director, with other family members also directors.
George Rye & Sons has operated a shop on the Bigg Market in Newcastle for decades, but that has just recently closed down as the company focuses more on its distribution business.
And now the firm’s 10,000 sq ft warehouse in Shieldfield is to be replaced by a much taller 22,000 sq ft facility in Cramlington, with four times the space.
The company is aiming to take staff numbers at HQ from 23 up to 30 or 35 by the end of the year, as well as employing its network of sales people around the country. Attending major European trade shows is attracting new customers on the continent and GRS aims to capitalise on this.
Martin Rye said: "The distribution side of the business has grown and grown over the last 35 years. We are on the verge of moving to our new building in Cramlington which will quadruple the warehouse space, and so vastly improve the range of stock we can hold.
"We did our first international show in September, and we are booked again for 2008 and 2009. Our area of the market is between £15 and £50 – quite middle of the road, not high fashion. We target 30 to 65-year-olds with a mixture of shoes made in different factories.
"Our customers are mainly department stores, mail order catalogues, the independent trade and small multiples – up to 10 shops."
Mr Rye said GRS was confident of succeeding in new markets, having learnt what its customers want.
He said: "In the UK, the most important thing is the style – material composition is secondary. But in Europe, the material is most important and the style is secondary.
"We discovered at GDS (a trade fair in Dusseldorf) that every country seems to like different shoes – the Italians go for high heels, while the Germans and Dutch look for the comfort factor. Interestingly no one bought any of the UK best sellers.
"Going to compete with the big German companies is a difficult task, but seeing how successful we are here, I don’t se any reason why we can’t replicate that on the continent."
