Quiz announces plans to float on AIM

Womenswear retailer Quiz has announced its intention to float on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), a market of the London Stock Exchange, as it looks to raise funds to accelerate growth.

Dealings in the company’s shares are expected to commence in July. Quiz will become the latest affordable fashion brand to go public after Asos and Boohoo.

Tarak Ramzan, chief executive officer of Quiz, said: "Quiz is a strong and distinctive omnichannel fashion brand with a clear customer and product focus. We are delighted to announce the Group's intention to float on AIM and we are confident that this will help enable the brand to achieve its exciting global potential.

"Fast fashion is in Quiz's DNA and our 'just in time' model ensures that we are always responding in real time to new trends as they emerge. This enables Quiz to always offer fantastic value and quality products that make fashion forward females feel glamorous and stand out from the crowd.”

In preparation, Quiz has stated that it intends to appoint Peter Cowgill as an independent non-executive chairman and Charlotte O'Sullivan as independent non-executive director, as it looks to bring “significant experience” in to complement the existing skill set of the board. It has already appointed Roger Mather as an independent non-executive director.

Commenting on his proposed appointment, Cowgill said: "I am delighted to be joining Quiz at this exciting time. Quiz is a dynamic company with a fantastic product offering and proven routes to market. The Group is ideally placed to capitalise on a wide range of growth opportunities, particularly online, where the brand has experienced very strong growth.”

Quiz to float on the Alternative Investment Market in July

Founded in 1993 in Glasgow, Quiz focuses on occasion wear and dressy casual wear aimed at 16 to 35-year-olds, and operates 73 standalone stores and 167 concessions in the UK and Republic of Ireland, as well as around 70 international franchise stores and concessions in 19 countries.

Group revenues at the business grew by 21 percent per annum to 89.8 million pounds between 2015 and 2017 while EBITDA grew 30.6 percent per annum to 10.3 million pounds. Online and international channels are the group's fastest growing channels with 42 percent and 64.2 percent growth per annum in the same period, respectively.

Ramzan added: “The Group’s fast, flexible supply chain together with the winning formula of style, quality, value and speed-to-market has enabled Quiz to grow rapidly into an established international fashion brand with over 300 standalone stores, concessions, franchise stores, wholesale partners and international online partners in 19 countries.

“I am very confident that we have a well invested infrastructure, a fantastic team and a clear strategy to accelerate further the growth of the QUIZ brand across all channels and markets.”

The womenswear retailer has set out a clear strategy for its continued growth, stating that it wants to take advantage of its online potential by increasing marketing activity, opening international websites, partnering with third-party platforms, broadening the product range and introducing new product categories, as well as developing and improving the existing mobile channel.

In addition, it has a 24-month plan to increase its international offering including opening international websites in Spain, USA and Australia, as well as standalone stores in Spain, concessions in Cyprus, the United States, Central America, and further expansion in the Middle East and the Far East.

In the UK, Quiz is planning to open around 20 new stores in the next 24-months, as well as an additional 20 new concessions during the same time period.

Last year Quiz opened a 180,000 square foot distribution centre in Glasgow to support future growth, and it recently opened a new interactive store in Westfield Stratford.

Image: Quiz website