This will include the continued
expansionof our partnership strategy.
The opportunity for us to sell our
products in areas of the UK where we
have no presence but do have potential
customers is considerable, and there is
additional significant opportunity to
satisfy shopper missions that are not
currently met through our existing store
estate footprint. By further expanding our
brand and offer internationally, we will
leverage the full potential of our design,
production and distribution capability.
Delivery of our strategy is now underway
and some significant milestones have
already been achieved. We have
strengthened our leadership team with
key appointments into the roles of Chief
Information Officer and Digital Director,
recognising the critical role digital has to
play in our business growth. In addition,
we have appointed a new Business
Development Director and appointed
Card Factory’s first Customer Marketing
Director to oversee our new Customer
Marketing function. These appointments
bring significant experience to our
leadership team and will ensure we
havethe right capabilities to drive the
next stage of our growth.
Recent delivery milestones include
opening our first new look ‘model
store’,and we will soon complete the
transitioning of both of our online
stores (cardfactory.co.uk and
gettingpersonal.co.uk) onto a single,
unified platform which unlocks cost
benefits and the ability to significantly
expand the cardfactory.co.uk
giftingrange.
Looking ahead, our focus for the
nextfinancial year is creating growth
opportunities around the store estate
and building out our wider capability.
Key FY23 milestones include:
Stores
• Expand our market share in Stores
in complementary categories – We
are already UK leaders in party and
balloon categories and for stores we
will be looking at expanding our
market share in categories such as
stationery, confectionery and toys.
This will not come at the expense of
cards in-store. It is about making
smarter, more agile choices
aboutthe space dedicated to
complementary categories.
• Complete the roll-out of trial
modelstores – We opened our
firstnew format ‘model store’ in
February 2022. The Coventry store
features better use of store space,
improved customer flow and
navigation through the store,
whilealso improving operational
efficiencies. Results from the store
have been very promising and we
expect that similar results can be
achieved as more trial stores are
opened. Analysis of results will be
used to prepare for wider roll-out
from FY24 while taking learnings
into our existing store estate.
• Open first central London stores;
continue Republic Of Ireland
expansion – We have identified a
profitable route for opening our first
stores in central London. Having
enjoyed profitable success with our
first 14 stores in the Republic of
Ireland, we will continue our
expansion plans with a further
fivestores already identified and
additional openings planned.
Wider capability
• Trialling the ability for shoppers to
Click & Collect any product from
our online or app platforms for
collection in-store – This is the first
step on rolling out our omnichannel
capability which we believe
provides the opportunity to
leverage our brand, store estate,
vertical integration, quality and
value proposition and our
investment in our online channels
tomaterially increase our share
ofthe online market.
• Deliver the second phase of our
ERPimplementation – Already live
across the finance functions, the
new ERP system will underpin the
growth strategy across the entire
business allowing us to understand
and respond rapidly to changing
shopper habits and preferences.
Itwill provide the ability to view
stock in all areas of the business,
which is essential for omnichannel
operations, and will allow us to
integrate with future partners both
in the UK and internationally.
• Pricing strategy – To support
maintaining margins, we have
begun a highly targeted set of
priceincreases across some of
ourproducts. We are carefully
analysing the impact on sales with
further price rises on other SKUs
being actively considered, whilst
maintaining our value proposition.
Responding to headwinds
Continuing to respond to the
inflationary headwinds outlined by
Paul in the Chair’s statement is a
priority area of focus. We have taken
significant pre-emptive measures to
manage costs within the business and
enact sustainable price increases.
People and culture
Investing in the evolution and
development of our people strategy
and culture within Card Factory is a
priority for our senior management
team. Developing Card Factory into
adiverse, inclusive and socially
responsible business is vital for our
growth and prosperity. It creates the
work environment where we can all
prosper and thrive. It attracts new
people and exceptional talent into
thebusiness, and it helps retain the
exceptional talent we already have.
Over the past year, we have been
collecting and listening to feedback
from across the business so that we
understand where our culture is right,
where we are treating colleagues in
the way they expect to be treated,
where we are fostering a leadership
environment that values and
encourages everyone’s contribution,
and how we can best reward
colleagues for the contribution they
make. Having completed a full review
of our pay and rewards policies
including industry benchmarking, we
have introduced a range of significant
improvements. All colleagues now
benefit from a company maternity
andpaternity pay scheme and an
inclusive company sick pay policy,
andwe have made substantial steps
towards making pay for all colleagues
competitive within the market.
Chief Executive
Officer’s review continued
14
Card Factory plc Annual Report and Accounts 2022