Shop Direct to open London office in 2017

Shop Direct, the UK’s second largest pureplay online retailer, is to open a new London office in 2017 to house up to 250 staff working across data, eCommerce, IT, product and brand.

The London hub will be located at 111 Buckingham Palace Road and will comprise of a mix of new hires, existing colleagues, and some who will split their time between London and the company’s head office in Liverpool.

The aim of the hub, set to be designed by SpaceInvader Design, is to help deliver and maximise some of the company’s landmark growth initiatives, such as its investment in advanced analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence, the continued development of advanced IT capabilities, and the expansion of its brand roster.

In addition, the office will be home to the VeryExclusive.co.uk team, who are currently based in Shop Direct’s Pollen Street showroom.

Shop Direct group chief executive, Alex Baldock, said: “We need to keep innovating to meet the ever-changing needs of our customer. That’s why we’re opening this fantastic new hub. The new space will reflect everything we stand for and are striving for.

“It’ll help us attract even more of the best people and get even closer to our existing partners, as well as forge important new partnerships. But above all it’ll be a place where our colleagues will have the space and facilities to thrive, delivering new innovation every day to help us continue making good things easily accessible to more people.”

The news follows Shop Direct’s reporting in September of a fourth consecutive year of record sales and underlying pre-tax profit. In the 53 weeks to June 30, underlying pre-tax profit rose by 43.6 percent to 150.4 million pounds, while sales increased by 4.3 percent to 1.86 billion pounds.