Gear4music is a British online retailer of musical instruments and musical equipment. The company's headquarters is in Holgate, York, England, with distribution centres in Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Ireland.

History

The company was founded in 1995 by recording engineer Andrew Wass, originally supplying equipment to small recording studios.[1]

In March 2012 the private equity firm Key Capital Partners (KCP) bought a £3.4 million minority stake in the group to develop its e-commerce platform.[2][3] The company saw its sales turnover rise from £12.3 million in the year to February 2013, to £24.2 million in February 2015.[3]

Gear4music completed an initial public offering (IPO) in June 2015, listing on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in London,[4] with KCP retaining a 24 per cent stake.[3] In 2013 the company moved to its distribution centre in York.

The company subsequently opened distribution centres in Mülheim, Germany,[5] Barcelona, Spain,[6] Rosersberg, Sweden, and Dublin, Ireland.[7]

In December 2021 the company completed the acquisition of AV Distribution Ltd, a retailer of audio-visual equipment, including hi-fi speakers, home cinema systems and specialist furniture.[8] The company reported a drop in sales over the summer of 2022, partly attributed to the 2022 United Kingdom heat waves, which meant people spent more time outdoors. From the period April to September, they reported a pre-tax loss of £1 million, whereas in the same period the year before, they reported nearly £2 million in profit.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Evans, Graeme (November 21, 2022). "Insider: chiefs load up on shares tipped to double". Interactive Investor.
  2. ↑ "Key Capital Partners tune up with Gear4music.com deal". Insider Media Ltd. March 20, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Key Capital Partners raises £55m for latest SME private equity fund". Yorkshire Post. November 23, 2015.
  4. ↑ Hickey, Shane (May 28, 2015). "Gear4music instrument retailer plans to open Soho store after IPO". The Guardian.
  5. ↑ "Mülheim: Wat machen Sie denn da, Herr Mallach?". Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). July 27, 2020.
  6. ↑ "AR Racking equipa el nuevo almacén en Barcelona del retailer de música Gear4music". El Mercantil. January 31, 2022.
  7. ↑ McMahon, Conor (July 5, 2021). "Gear4music opens Dublin hub after off-the-scale year". The Times.
  8. ↑ Parr, Jacqui (December 2, 2021). "Gear4music acquires AV Online business - Retail Gazette". Retail Gazette.
  9. ↑ Tamzin Kraftman (November 16, 2022). "Gear4Music sales hurt by UK summer heatwave". Guitar.com. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
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