Unique Magazines set to break £1m sales barrier
Oct 15 2009 by Peter McCusker, The Journal
AN ONLINE magazine subscription and distribution firm is looking to move to larger premises after securing a three-year contract to manage the web-based sales of a popular range of cuddly toys.
John Porrett set up Unique Magazines in Whitley Bay in 2004 as a sideline to his day job as commercial director of the North East convenience store group Mills.
Initially established to handle subscriptions for magazines, he has subsequently won contracts to deal with subscriptions for some of the major publishing firms such as DC Thompson, of Beano and Dandy fame.
In 2006 the firm moved into distribution of the magazines and online retailing. It has since developed an e-commerce facility with a website-design capability.
Mr Porrett, a self-confessed workaholic, has ambitious plans for Unique Magazines and expects to break through the £1m sales barrier next year. This will be boosted by next week’s launch of a website designed by the firm for the cuddly elephant and mouse characters Elliot and Buttons.
Mr Porrett, who started work at Whitley Bay company Mills as an assistant stock controller 17 years ago, said: “Elliot and Buttons generate sales of £6m a year and with online sales anticipated at 10% we expect to see a £600,000 lift to our sales.”
Unique currently employs five staff and Mr Porrett leaves the day-to-day running of the business to its managers.
He said: “The team at Unique are quite capable of standing on their own two feet.
“Nigel (Mills, the managing director of the Mills Group) is fully supportive of what I do.
“I’m a bit of a workaholic and don’t think twice about working in the evenings and at the weekends.”
Unique currently has sales of £500,000 in its subscription business. Its database of 30,000 customers is a valuable resource for magazine publishers looking to market new and existing products.
The Elliot and Buttons development adds to the Unique online retail store range which includes chocolates, flowers, CDs and calendars.
Mr Porrett added: “We are currently using premises belonging to the Mills Group and are looking for new premises to help with our expansion.”
Meanwhile, Mills Group is continuing to grow and has added five outlets to its 78-strong portfolio across the North East, North Yorkshire, the Midlands and South Wales.
The new purchases from Sainsbury’s will help lift its turnover by 10%, taking it to around £110m a year, and it is recruiting 10 staff for its 65-strong head office to cope with its rapid growth.
The company currently employs 1,150 people and in the last year it has seen an 18% growth in it services division, such as Lottery entries and gas and electric credits, raising revenue in this sector to around £50m.
