The North East owner of baby brand Tommee Tippee has seen its profits jump 77% on the back of global growth and new product development.
Mayborn Group, which has more than 1,100 staff around the world, has it head office in Balliol Business Park in Newcastle, overseeing the group’s popular brands including Tommee Tippee baby bottles and the sleep brand Gro.
The firm has bases in the US, Australia, France and Hong Kong while also owning and operating manufacturing facilities in Mansfield, Morocco and China, and accounts for 2021 have now been published, in which the firm toasts rising profits despite seeing a dip in revenues.
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Revenue dipped from £205.95m in 2020 to £203.01m, but operating profit grew from £25.5m to £31.4m. Pre-tax profit also increased from £15.9m to £25.7m.
Speaking in the accounts, director James Taylor attributed the 1.4% drop in revenue to the strengthening of sterling, which negatively affected revenues from other markets. He also highlighted challenging trading conditions, with supply chain and freight issues, notably in the US, and an volatile UK market that came up against strong comparators for 2020.
He said: “The group operates in the baby accessories sector, with the Tommee Tippee brand of feeding, comfort and hygienc products and the Gro brand of sleep: both are leading brands in a number of markets. Quality and reliability of product and brand reputation is critical in this sector and the group has robust processes in place to mitigate this risk by ensuring high quality standards are maintained.
“We continue to take significant share in USA and Europe whilst retaining significant market leadership in the UK and Australia, demonstrating the resilience and consumer love for the Tommee Tippee brand.”
He said the company’s markets were fragmented but that it was expected to consolidate over the next few years, driven by the cost of developing and launching new products and the costs of satisfying consumers’ requirements both online and in stores.
He added: “The retail channels for the baby accessories sector continue to evolve, with consumers continuing to move online. There continues to be challenges for our retail partners on the high street and we are working closely with these partners to mitigate any risks this may present. In response to this, the group has established a multi-channel strategy which will enable it to become one of the few branded baby product suppliers with the range and ability to service all retail channels, regardless of where the consumer decides to shop.”
Steve Parkin, CEO of Mayborn Group added: “We are pleased to report positive growth during 2021 in what was a challenging year and we are proud of the strong results our team achieved throughout the pandemic. We continue to focus on developing innovative products that support mums and dads through their parenting journey and we are very excited to be bringing a brand new in-bra wearable breast pump to the market in the coming weeks which we believe will be an absolute game changer for mums.”
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