Handmade shoes prove successful for Cheaney as sales hit £10m

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Dec 12, 2017

High-end footwear company Cheaney, which sells handmade shoes for up to £520, has made £10 million in sales for the first time in its history, it announced on Tuesday as it unveiled its financial results for the year to July 2017.

In addition to growing its sales, the company improved its operational performance with EBITDA climbing 7% to £1.8 million.

Joint Managing Director, Jonathan Church said: “Cheaney has delivered another year of strong growth, and continues to perform well especially in Cheaney branded sales, reflecting the growing appeal of our own brand and the consumer’s appreciation of quality hand-crafted footwear.”

Sales were up across retail, wholesale and e-commerce, said the brand, which specialised in manufacturing shoes for other brands until a management buy-out in 2009.

But Cheaney branded footwear has been gaining traction ever since and experienced its strongest growth to date this year. Branded goods now account for 80% of the company’s sales, rising from 30% before 2009. The business attributed the growth to the expansion of its women’s collection and the launch of its first collection exclusively for wholesale in the UK.

Retail revenues climbed driven by the expansion of the brand’s physical presence following the opening of its seventh store in London’s Covent Garden. Cheaney has now one store in Cambridge, one in Leeds and five in London. A further store is slated to open in Coal Drops Yard in London in October 2018.

Meanwhile, wholesale revenue grew strongly boosted by international contracts. Cheaney hailed its  ‘Made in England’ stamp as it revealed that almost half of its wholesale turnover comes from international markets.  Italy is Cheaney’s largest market in Europe and Japan its biggest single export market overall.

Joint Managing Director William Church commented: “Our vision for the future is to grow and develop the brand, by making the most of the innate skill potential that lies within the business. Increasing our exports in new and existing markets and extending our retail portfolio will be our key strategies for the growth of Cheaney. Above all, we will continue our commitment to producing the finest footwear, entirely made in England.”