THE owner of Rutherglen-based toy firm H Grossman has vowed to return the business to growth after resuming ownership just nine months after selling it in a management buyout.
Martin Grossman, whose parents established H Grossman in 1946, signalled his determination to revive the business, in new accounts at Companies House.
The accounts show the company slipped to a pre-tax loss of £591,826 in the year ended December 31, having made a £1.75m profit in 2014 when business was boosted by the loom band craze. Turnover fell by more than £11m last year to £8.3m.
Mark Walls and Daniel McLoughlin took a majority stake in H Grossman in a management buyout in June 2015, and also took a majority stake in a sister operation in Hong Kong. This change in ownership of H Grossman resulted in exceptional administration expenses of £596,040 last year, according to the accounts.
However, just nine months after the buyout the business was bought back again by Mr Grossman.
Mr Grossman claims in the accounts that the previous management had overseen a decline in turnover and did not introduce new product lines.
The firm stated: “Under the new management turnover dropped and new product lines were not introduced into the company. Martin Grossman bought back the business due to these issues on 21 March 2016 and has been aggressively importing new and exciting products to continue to grow the company’s market share.”
Mr Grossman said he “considers that it will take a full six months to return to the original growth rate of the company.”
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