Quarterly Business Review
Marlow & Co · specialty retail group
Q2 FY27 · May to July 2026
02Agenda
Fifty minutes, one decision set.
- 01The quarter in three numbers
- 02Revenue in context
- 03What worked
- 04What underperformed
- 05Our recommendation
- 06The plan to Christmas
- 07Decisions we need today
- 08Close
03The quarter in three numbers
Chester closed in Q4 FY26; all comparisons are as reported, not adjusted.
04Revenue in context
Growth is back, and online is carrying it.
Of the £0.54m increase on last year, online contributed £0.45m. Store like-for-like added £0.19m and wholesale £0.13m; the Chester closure cost £0.23m against the comparative.
05What worked
Three things we invested in paid back this quarter.
06What underperformed
Homeware went backwards, and two stores stayed below the line.
Homeware fell to £1.21m from £1.36m. Richmond and Harrogate finished £38k negative between them, a third consecutive quarter below contribution threshold.
07Our recommendation
Run twelve stores well instead of fourteen thinly.
Exit Richmond and Harrogate, recover £310k of annualised contribution, and put it behind the two things that grew this quarter: online and the Marlow Card.
08The plan to Christmas
Three workstreams, one peak season.
Estate
- AUGLease-break notices served for Richmond and Harrogate
- SEPExit terms agreed; every member of staff offered a transfer
- OCTBoth stores closed; stock redistributed across the twelve
Digital
- SEPCheckout rework ships in the app, matching the web gains
- OCTPersonalised flows extended to the full customer base
- NOVPeak trading plan locked; capacity tested at 3x daily volume
Loyalty
- SEPMarlow Card live in six more stores
- OCTAll twelve stores live by 17 October
- NOVMembers’ preview weekend ahead of the Christmas ranges
09Decisions
We need three decisions today.
-
01
Approve the exit of Richmond and Harrogate.
Both leases carry break clauses exercisable this quarter. Notices must be served by 29 August to complete the closures before peak trading.
Sponsor: CFO · needed by 29 Aug 2026
-
02
Approve £240k of H2 investment in the Marlow Card rollout.
£90k platform licence and integration, £150k in-store staffing and training. Funded in full from the estate saving.
Sponsor: Commercial director · needed by 12 Sep 2026
-
03
Approve a one-off £120k markdown budget for homeware.
Clears the 61% sell-through position before the autumn range lands in the week of 5 October, rather than carrying it into peak.
Sponsor: Trading director · needed today
10Close
Thank you.
We will circulate this deck and the underlying model this afternoon. Questions between reviews are always welcome; the engagement team is below.
- Prepared by
- Rachel Achebe, Partnerwith T. Halvorsen and M. Ito, Ferrow retail practice
- Contact
- rachel.achebe@ferrow.partners+44 20 7946 0810
- Engagement
- MAR·QBR·0827Marlow & Co quarterly review cycle, FY27
- Next review
- Q3 FY27w/c 9 November 2026, ahead of peak trading