21. eBuyer

Revenue: £174.3m (-28%)

Staff: 200+

East Yorkshire-based eBuyer had a challenging year, reflected in its most recent financial results, which saw revenue drop 28 per cent to £174.25m, showing a continued normalisation after a pandemic sales spike.

The tech e-tailer which was acquired by Mark Reed and Rich from West Retail Group last April, cites a drop in the market for electrical products, driven in part 'by the reduction in discretionary spend because of inflationary increases seen in the cost of essentials.

Additionally, the business has reduced stock levels following the resolution of the supply chain crisis and eBuyer expects to maintain these lower levels ‘while the market remains low'.

In an interview with CRN in August, Marsden stated one of the priorities was rationalising eBuyer's supply chain.

"Moving to a preferred partner status is a big change for eBuyer, and we've selected a number of distributors to remain as preferred partners. A number have been removed from our supply chain.

"So we've simplified our supply chain to make it easier and so that we can now work closely with our preferred partners to build our business, as opposed to having multiple distributors competing all the time for the same purchase order," he explains.

He confirmed that eBuyer is still working with all the major distributors including Ingram Micro, TD SYNNEX, Exertis and Westcoast as well as a handful of specialists.

He also said that the company had been doubling down on its direct business and is seeing success with some direct partners.