Consumer & Retail

Gear4music (Holdings) plc

Market Cap (£m) 38.4
Listing AIM

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Company Description

Gear4music  (G4M) is the leading UK online retailer of musical instruments and music equipment. Based in York, it has also established operating bases in Sweden and Germany to spearhead its expansion into Europe. It operates 20 localised country websites in 15 languages with nine currencies and can ship its products to 190 countries. G4M's product offer, based on long-term supplier relationships, extends to over 55,000 lines, including its highly profitable own-brand ranges. Operating a low-cost model, with further efficiency gains targeted, G4M is profitable from the first customer transaction, achieving a 250% gross margin return on its marketing investment in new customer acquisition. With many staff members playing or producing music, G4M can rightfully describe itself as 'a business for musicians run by musicians'.

Investment Summary

G4M has built a flexible, scalable, low-cost business model, including a European distribution infrastructure and local buying capabilities, which also helps to mitigate Brexit and supply chain risks. G4M benefits from several barriers to entry. The most significant of these - and a source of sustainable competitive advantage - is its proprietary and bespoke end-to-end e-commerce platform, developed and continuously enhanced over a 15-year period. G4M has significant growth potential from market share expansion, both in the UK and mainland Europe, in a highly fragmented product market undergoing a structural shift into the online channel. The company's primary growth drivers are international expansion, product range extension, continued e-commerce platform investment and further enhancement of digital marketing and content.

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Company Management Team

  • Andrew Wass

    Chief Executive Officer

    Andrew has over 25 years’ of business management experience. Having studied Popular Music and Sound Recording at the Salford University of Salford, he set up and ran a commercial recording studio and founded Gear4music Limited in 1995 (then called Soundpro Limited). In 1998 he began selling computer systems for the audio recording market before launching “Gear4music.com” in 2003. Since then Andrew has retained overall responsibility for driving the Group’s growth.

  • Chris Scott

    Chief Financial Officer

    Before joining Gear4music in October 2012, Chris was the Finance Director at Officers Club, overseeing the sale of the business to Blue Inc. Chris joined the audit team of KPMG LLP in Leeds in 1997, qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2000 and went on to spend nine further years in their advisory practice including a year on secondment at Barclays Bank. He holds an Executive Masters in Business Administration.