By Kristy Dorsey
Online clothing retailer Snag is set to triple the size of its Livingston operation as it gears up for further expansion amid growing demand for its range of tights and other garments in an inclusive range of sizes.
The company, which sells to customers in 90 countries, will in January take occupation of a 30,000sq ft warehouse near its smaller existing facility. The move will allow Snag – which has expanded into leggings, t-shirts, skirts and swimwear – to significantly increase capacity to store, process and package stock.
Set up in 2017 by Brie Read, Snag currently has 140 full-time and temporary employees, with staffing levels fluctuating with seasonal demand. About 30 of these people work at the Livingston warehouse and a further 15 are based at a warehouse in the Netherlands, while the remainder work remotely.
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Ms Read said Snag was profitable during the year to August on revenues of £24 million, and expects sales to double in the current financial year. On-site staff numbers are forecast to double with the move to the new warehouse, while the company is also looking to fill additional customer-facing roles.
The expansion is backed by a £2m package of funding support from Santander, which will also become Snag’s primary banking provider.
“I started Snag Group after my own very embarrassing moment wearing tights while walking along a busy Edinburgh city centre street,” Ms Read said.
“We are now a rapidly-growing e-commerce business and are excited to be working with Santander UK, which has worked hard to understand our needs and prospects, with a view to helping us achieve more rapid growth.”
Ms Read is Snag’s majority shareholder with an 85 per cent stake in the company, while angel investors account for the remaining equity. She launched Snag with an initial focus on tights after discovering that mainstream sizing is based on their length, meaning that the width is the same for everything from an XS to an XL pair of tights.
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