Shaw & Co, the specialist corporate finance advisory firm, has launched its second annual in-depth report into the Wholesale and Retail Trade (W&RT) industry, the latest in its regular series of reports that offer business leaders a powerful sector overview and benchmarking tool to aid their decision making.

The report segments 2,450 businesses with earnings in excess of £1m by size and subsector to track their performance, profitability, debt levels and M&A activity. Key findings include:

• Scale is King: 9% of the 2,450 companies analysed account for 74% of total turnover. Achieving scale opens more options to borrow, grow and take market share.

• 104 M&A Deals: The high level of acquisition deals within this industry is reflective of the importance of achieving scale. With headwinds manifesting themselves due to high inflation and geopolitical uncertainty, scale may be even more important to survive.

• The industry was supported through the pandemic - both by a shift to consumers moving online and government support schemes such as furlough and grants – and appears to have emerged strongly, with a rise in average turnover in retail and wholesale. However, if considering an acquisition, care needs to be taken on how the target company will continue to trade in a post-pandemic world.

A full copy of the report is available here

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