Founded in 2019 by Jack Mason and Dave Antrobus, Manchester-founded Inc & Co faced an immediate uphill battle in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns across the UK caused a dramatic fall in foot traffic and consumer spending. Businesses across the UK were forced to shut their doors, facing a lagging sales performance and bleak future.
In spite of the odds, Inc & Co came out ahead of the pandemic as newly released figures show significant growth for the UK business despite the global economic uncertainty.
How Inc & Co made growth possible
Established enterprises felt the pinch from lockdowns, so it’s incredible that Inc & Co was able to generate a turnover of £30 million in its second year of business. The Manchester-founded business group’s approach to management and acquisition made rapid growth possible. By modifying its strategy to fit into the demands of the pandemic, Inc & Co leaned into the curve, making the most of difficult circumstances to get ahead.
Group Finance Director of Inc & Co, Chris Hatfield, credits the brand’s growth to:
- Diversification: Inc & Co owns a variety of brands in retail, property, tech, food & beverage, and logistics. By acquiring brands in complementary markets, Inc & Co enjoyed greater diversification and future-proofed its operations.
- Acquisitions: Inc & Co was able to use the tumultuous circumstances of the last year as an opportunity to acquire several new businesses. The company welcomed logistics firm Caribou, KNOMO London, Chop’d, Laundrapp, Gut Instinct, and Tootsa to its brand family over the past year.
- Strategic sales: In early 2021, Inc & Co made its first strategic sale. It sold MyLife Digital to DataGuard, a privacy and information security firm.
The goal of this three-pronged approach was to strengthen Inc & Co’s recurring revenue while tightly monitoring costs in an uncertain economy. All of these inputs allowed the brand to generate cash in 2020 in spite of worldwide COVID lockdowns.
In fact, Inc & Co now projects a turnover of £100 million by 2023, after just three years in business. Over the past year, Inc & Co added 50 additional staff members, bringing the employee count to over 750 employees across its holdings. But with its projected growth, the brand plans to onboard an additional 100 team members over the next 12 months to bolster its efforts.
Inc & Co will also announce new projects in September of 2021. Secret plans are underway to bring retail and office spaces to the high street.
As footfall gradually increases in cities and towns across the UK, Inc & Co plans to see greater turnover in its retail and property arms. Group CEO Jack Mason anticipates a greater number of opportunities in spite of the uncertain and tumultuous past year. Thanks to its dedicated and tenacious team, Inc & Co was able to rally and thrive during a historically difficult year. No one is certain what the future holds with COVID-19, but one thing is clear: Inc & Co’s growing presence will be an asset to the economic recovery of the UK.
