December 30, 2012 rounded off another successful year for online and mail order ironmongery supplier Ironmongery Direct, as it posted 22% growth.
Revenue amounted to £18.1m, £7.5m of which came from online orders - a department which saw 29% growth for the year. EBITDA was £1.7m, up 37% and profit before tax was £1.3m, also increasing by 37%.

Ironmongery Direct invested £2.5m in its infrastructure over the year, which reaped "major efficiency benefits" according to the company, and introduced over 2,000 new products. A mobile website was also launched, as was the introduction of later cut-off times for next day deliveries.

Managing director Wayne Lysaght-Mason said: "We are pleased that despite tough times in the industry we have managed our eighth consecutive year of strong growth. It really goes to show just how important it is to understand our customers and continue to adapt to their needs."

The trading year also saw the company introduce free returns. Its 7.30pm cut-off time for next day deliver is reportedly a market-leading move, and it recently extended its Sunday cut-off to 3.30pm for Monday delivery.

"More than 76% of our customers tell us they come back because of our next day delivery; therefore maintaining our service level again and again is key to our success.

"Having established Ironmongery Direct as the UK's largest specialist distributor of ironmongery for the trade, we will continue to drive growth throughout 2013 and beyond. Whilst we expect the market to remain relatively flat, we are confident that our plans to further enhance our customer proposition will see us continue to expand our share of the market and grow Ironmongery Direct into a £50m+ turnover business."