Black Friday Now On!Black Friday Now On!

About Us

In the October of 1893, a young Henry Ryman flipped over the ‘Open’ sign to his brand new shop on Great Portland Street, London. Ryman Stationery was officially born. From then to now, we’ve had over 120 years’ experience in providing essential stationery items, and expert product knowledge.

Ryman sells a comprehensive range of stationery and office supplies, ranging from writing equipment, paper and filing solutions to printers, ink, office furniture and tech products, including shredders and laminators, headphones, computer accessories and more. Ryman's expanded storage range has proven popular with customers, as they look to declutter and organise their homes.

With over 200 stores and our online shop, our business accounts and special discounts for students, our unrivalled product knowledge, range and service, and our commitment to giving you the very best products, we’re still just as passionate about stationery as Henry was on that very first day. You can rely on Ryman.

Ryman Ltd, registered number Z6813872 and registered address Ryman Limited, Ryman House, Savoy Road, Crewe Cheshire, CW1 6NA. Registered in England & Wales. VAT Number is 672 5237 29

Financial Highlights

Theo Paphitis Retail Group (“The Group”) Christmas Trading 

and Financial Year End 2022 Results 

Theo Paphitis Retail Group sees a resurgence in store performance and continues investment in stores and online. Headwinds expected to result in challenging times for retail in 2023. 

Christmas 2022 Trading (6 weeks to 24 December) 

Comparing 2022 vs 2021 

● Total Group sales level with 2021, with growth in stores across all brands, performing particularly well in the ‘second half’ of the Christmas trading period, as customers returned to stores following the pandemic. 

● Performance made up of +5.5% growth in stores and -9.7% in e-commerce.  Store sales as a share of total business increased from 62.2% to 65.8%.

● Highlights include: 

○ +5.3% growth in Robert Dyas with stores and ecommerce delivering increases. A strong finish to the campaign with December at + 13.4%. 

○ 7.2% growth in Ryman stores. 

○ 1.8% growth in Boux Avenue stores. 

○ 23.1% overall growth in London Graphic Centre. 

Financial Statements for the Year Ended March 2022 

Boux Avenue: Boux Avenue continued its improvement seen in the previous year with a 43.2% increase in turnover to £67.1m. This was also an increase on pre-pandemic sales of 56.2%. An EBITDA loss of only £0.3m, which is a significant improvement on previous years. 

Ryman: Ryman returned to profitability following the impact of the pandemic on its key customer groups and store locations. Growth in turnover of 40.8% to £102.8m

resulted in an EBITDA profit of £1.3m (previous year loss of £8.5m a positive swing of £9.8m). 

Robert Dyas: Growth across both channels delivered an increase in turnover of 34.4% from £122.5m to £164.6m, resulting in an EBITDA profit of £2.5m (previous year EBITDA loss of £700k).

Theo Paphitis Retail Group resilient through the pandemic with the Group delivering strong growth

Christmas 2021 Trading (6 weeks to 24 December)

Comparing 2021 vs 2019 - as the only meaningful measure, given the lockdown impact to trade in 2020.


● Total Group sales +15.6% ahead of 2019 driven by strong performance and growth across all brands in e-commerce. Investment in our infrastructure over recent years together with customer acquisition has helped to drive sales and our customer base, which will continue to be a focus in 2022.
● Growth of +15.6% on 2019, made up of +87.5% growth in ecommerce with stores at -6.3%. Highlights include:
○ +50.6% growth in Boux Avenue, including both ecommerce and stores, building on the recovery from last year.
○ Robert Dyas delivered a doubling of sales online for the period.
○ Ryman’s ecommerce up +56.4%.

 

Financial Statements for the Year Ended March 2021
● Boux Avenue: Boux Avenue made significant progress following its strategic review in 2019, with total sales growth of +9.1% - an amazing performance, particularly taking
into the account the closure of its stores for over half of the year. Underlying EBITDA loss reduced to £3.5m despite disruption and costs relating to the pandemic, from
the previously reported loss of £14.9m (an underlying improvement of £11.4m). E-commerce growth was +129.7% up on 2020. Performance has further improved
into the current financial year, with sales and profits well ahead of last year.
● Ryman: The brand’s prominence in city centres, business and student markets has meant that, due to the lockdowns, it was most affected during the last financial year.
EBITDA was an £8.5m loss (2020 - £7.8m profit) bringing to an end a run of over 25 years of profitable performance. As lockdown restrictions eased, Ryman began its
journey to profitability in 2022 once again.
● Robert Dyas: Delivered growth on last year, with ecommerce trading up +88% on the previous year, contributing 47% of total sales for the year. This helped to mitigate the
impact of the pandemic with an improvement in EBITDA of £2.4m, resulting in a loss of only £0.7m.

Theo Paphitis Comment

“We are pleased with the performance and progress in the financial year ended March 2021 and inevitably the pandemic has affected our brands in different ways, with Boux Avenue and Robert Dyas making excellent progress in this last year. The results demonstrate the hard work and dedication of our colleagues across the Group, and how the stores and online arms have worked together, building on our strategy and crucial investment prior to and during the pandemic.

The Group’s +15.6% overall growth during our peak trading period, versus pre-pandemic 2019, including stores and ecommerce, shows further progress and resilience through and out of lockdowns. Stores were only slightly behind the comparable period in 2019 for the Group, with Boux Avenue the star performer of the Group in this area, with a strong performance of +50.6%. The strength of our ecommerce trading masks the much more challenging store environment, in particular in city centres and prime locations, where business rates are unfairly high. It is therefore a major disappointment that this has failed to be structurally addressed by the Chancellor.

Boux Avenue has made excellent progress in the last financial year and had a strong Christmas, with the investment in ecommerce and product development in particular enabling this performance. Having come through a difficult period, our strategic review and implementation of this has seen the business well set for the future. Our customers have responded positively to our ranges and demonstrated their loyalty to the brand through switching between channels. This was demonstrated by the underlying EBITDA improving by £11.4m in the last financial year.

Robert Dyas’s excellent performance online also drove strong growth for the brand, with its ecommerce strategy and investment paying dividends for the brand. Even with stores reopening, year to date ecommerce growth continued to accelerate for the first six months of the current financial year by a further +34.2%. The increased trend towards the home and garden sector has also created further success for Robert Dyas.

Further initiatives include the extending of joint stores, with sister brand Ryman, which have been positive for both businesses. We enter Robert Dyas’s 150th year of trading positively, highlighting its place in UK’s retail as a brand with heritage and strong ecommerce capabilities.

Ryman’s 200-store portfolio and reliance on office, education and students has inevitably taken a harder hit than the rest of the Group during these times, but we were seeing recovery as key segments of our customer base returned, until the recent government directive advising people to work from home. This has once again caused a decline in footfall in our core demographics.

Ryman sales through ecommerce grew significantly during the last financial year at +111%, assisted by the shift to working from home. Due to over 200 store closures in lockdown and reduced footfall, sales declined from £123.4m to £73m, and EBITDA was a loss of £8.5m. This is the first loss experienced under my ownership of over 25 years, however, we are confident that Ryman will bounce back and is on track to make an EBITDA profit again. Our services proposition has rebounded particularly well in store as well as demand in our traditional product categories.

Retail remains a fantastic and exciting, innovative industry to be in, and one which we are incredibly proud of. It is resilient, defiant in the face of the unexpected and continues to create careers at all levels and deserves to continue to be a sector that is fairly supported. Whilst business was supported through the pandemic, especially as stores were closed in unprecedented circumstances, the continued reluctance of the government to implement a fair and just realignment of the business rates tax, fit for the 21st Century, continues to damage the industry. We need a grown up government to grasp the business rates nettle and deal with it! Whilst appreciating the complexities of the task, it’s by no stretch of the imagination impossible to complete in this modern age.

The focus for 2022 is building on the positive, innovation, and our colleague development, in order to satisfy our customers. We, like so many in this sector, have responded well when we’ve had everything, including the kitchen sink thrown at us, and will continue to dig deep to keep physical retail alive, as a key function of communities, but we cannot do this on our own. Over to you Mr Prime Minister.”

.

For further information please contact:

Jess Littlewood Group Head of PR, Theo Paphitis Retail Group
jesslittlewood@tprg.com.

Financial Statements

Highlights Christmas 2018

  • Positive like-for-like sales of 3.6% delivered by the Group for the 6 weeks to 24 December 2018.
  • Group Stores like-for-like -1.1%, Group E-commerce growth 27.4%.
  • Online sales mix of total business increased from 16.7% to 20.5% for the Group, with Boux Avenue reaching 42.8%.
  • Like-for-like growth delivered by all brands; Ryman 3.9%, Robert Dyas 1.1%, Boux Avenue 8.1%.

Theo Paphitis comment

I am pleased that the Group, as well as all of our individual brands, were able to record like-for-like sales growth during the Christmas trading period.

The retail market remains an extremely challenging one evidenced by several corporate failures over the last 12 months and is likely to be reflected in trading results across our sector.

It has recently been reported in the press that the Treasury have turned their attention to the tidal waves impacting retail, particularly on our high streets. I would normally welcome this, however, I do wonder whether they are able to see beyond personal interests and conflicts to develop a more level playing field and improved job security for the vast number of people employed locally serving customers in our communities. Will there be a ‘change of tide’? I doubt it. When I see ministers doing personal PR pieces, in the Sunday Press over the Christmas break, comparing their task to that of King Canute to make any meaningful difference to the horrific effects of the dramatic change in the retail landscape… I would say to them “No, Minister you just need to do your job and it's as clear as the nose on your face that serious tax reforms are the answer for the greater good of the Country and the people you purport to serve!” The handling of Brexit, with the disruption and uncertainty caused on one of the most important decisions in recent history gives me little confidence in our government implementing any meaningful change, in the short to medium term.

With time, retailers will and are striving to innovate, taking challenges in their ‘stride’, however, this will be more difficult if we continue to experience the political incompetence and arrogance that has become part of all our daily personal and business lives. The neglect from distracted politicians will ensure that the outlook will remain bleak. I would expect other retailers without the financial strength that we have to come under further pressure as the burden on them is set to increase, once again, next year. I’m afraid to say that I fail to see any signs that we will see a “Strong and Stable” approach to business in the near future.

Our businesses have responded to the challenges presented in different ways. Ryman fared best in store, delivering credible like-for-like sales of 2.5%. This was achieved by strong availability in its core ranges, as well as developing its gifting proposition and services in store like DHL and Western Union. The London Graphic Centre in Covent Garden, acquired by Ryman in October 2016, recorded growth of 2.4% in its second Christmas under the Group’s ownership.

Robert Dyas and Boux Avenue performed more strongly online with growth of 36.7% and 21.4%, respectively. Robert Dyas has successfully developed its ranges and was able to build on growth delivered online earlier in the year. Boux Avenue was probably in the most challenging of markets with discounting a key feature for many fashion retailers. Footfall to key shopping centres has been disappointing, meaning competition amongst brands for customer spend was fierce. Whilst Ryman and Robert Dyas were able to deliver margins ahead of last year, which is very encouraging, this was a challenge for Boux Avenue.

Black Friday has become a permanent fixture during peak trading and perhaps takes the edge away from the Christmas peak as we knew it. All of our brands ran offers through the week, as it has now become, leading up to Black Friday. We are pleased with the response we received from our customers. We have invested significantly in our infrastructure over the last 12 months or so, in particular in building a new warehouse for Boux Avenue as well as a Group Customer Services department to deal with the increased demands in this area. We have planned and invested for our e-commerce businesses to continue to grow across the board.

It was also great to see a new Group initiative of a joint Robert Dyas and Ryman store launched last summer in Bexleyheath, enjoying its first Christmas as such, come in as one of our top performing stores in the period. This success has resulted in us now actively searching for further suitably sited stores to repeat this format.

Despite my frustrations with the environment for doing business, I remain committed to all of our brands and will continue to invest in these as well as look for opportunities to extend the Group as appropriate. That been said, the approach will be a cautious one due to the lack of confidence I have in our current political environment and economic policy, which prioritise power over fixing structural problems, leaving our economy in jeopardy.

Financial Statements Year ended 31st March 2018

Ryman

Celebrating 125 years, like-for-like growth was 2% in store and 16.9% non-store, giving total like for like sales of 3.4%.

Underlying EBITDA £7.5m, against £8.2m for the prior year, considered a good performance. Slight reduction in profits due to unavoidable increased costs of doing business, as well as maintaining investment in infrastructure and colleagues. Sales in line with previous year at £128m.

New stores including relocations opened in the year reported and since include Liverpool, Kings Road, Wimbledon, New Oxford Street, Grays Inn Road, Great Portland Street and Aston University.

First joint store opened with Robert Dyas in Bexleyheath, seeing both heritage brands under one roof, proving to be very successful, now giving rise to the identification of further openings.

Growth in new product categories as well as services like DHL and Western Union.

Growth delivered in our B2B proposition with Ryman and Theo Paphitis supporting small businesses and young entrepreneurs, including sponsorship of initiatives such as #SBS (Small Business Sunday) and the National Enterprise Challenge.

Strong balance sheet with net assets of £56m.

Trading in current year ahead of last year in both sales and profit.

Robert Dyas

Like-for-like growth of 2.7%, assisted by exceptional performance in e-commerce with growth of 45.7%. This has continued into the current year.

Strong click-and-collect take up from customers, reaching over 50% of orders with option to collect from Robert Dyas and Ryman stores nationwide.

Investment in technology and infrastructure continues to support growth. Since acquiring the business in 2012, investment in new warehouse and systems, website and recent relocation of offices to Wimbledon. Further investment to increase warehouse automation given demands from strong e-commerce growth through the summer and continuing into Christmas peak this year.v

New store opened in Bromley driven by demand in the town for click-and-collect to Ryman store.

Joint store launched with Ryman in Bexleyheath. Both brands under one roof well received by customers and trading ahead of expectations. Further new stores being considered as well as joint stores with Ryman.

EBITDA £0.5m against £2.4m for the prior year, which included 53 weeks of trading. Turnover was £123.9m, £0.5m ahead of previous year. Decline in profit partly impacted by one less week of trading, fixed costs as well as investment made in infrastructure to support growth plans.

Requirements funded through company and Group’s own resources.

Trading in current year ahead of last year in both sales and profit.

Boux Avenue Limited

Strong online growth of 19%, sees share of online business to total sales (stores and e-commerce) increase from 23.9% to 29.3% in the year. This is in line with the original business plan to open 25-30 stores and driving further growth through online sales. The 30th and final store of our business plan opened at the Victoria Centre, Nottingham in November 2018. In the financial year reported the 29th store was opened in Oxford. The share of online sales to total sales has increased further in the current year and is expected to move towards 50% in the next 3 years. During the recent peak Christmas trading period, share of online sales reached 42.8%.

The brand has developed a customer base of over 800,000 active customers signed up both in store and online. Investment made during the year in a Customer Relationship Management tool enabling marketing campaigns tailored to the individual needs and preferences of customers, has improved conversion and spend.

A challenging fashion retail market contributed to negative like-for-like sales for the first time since the brand launched in 2011, despite the online sales growth of 19%. Footfall to key shopping centre locations was weaker than seen in previous years, coupled with poor management of our supply chain contributed to this. A promotional market and currency weakness resulted in lower margins.

Given the Group and board’s commitment to the business, as well as the continued investment made, the decision was made and has now been implemented to considerably strengthen the management team to address issues and drive growth in the brand. This has resulted in the appointment of Michael Kerr as the brand’s first CEO, who was previously at Marks & Spencer for over 30 years and Zoe Price-Smith who joins as Design and Product Director from Hunkemöller, prior to that at Fat Face. Growth is expected to come from e-commerce, other new channels and new product categories being developed under the Boux Avenue brand.

Our plans for the Brand remain ambitious and are exciting, with e-commerce becoming increasingly important. We have also strengthened in this area with the appointment earlier in the year of Verity Till as E-commerce Director. Verity joined Boux Avenue from New Look and has made an immediate impact improving the website implemented last year.

Other major investment has been made in our infrastructure to include a new 75,000 sq ft warehouse at a cost of over £3m to support the growth planned.

New sales channels include wholesaling into asos.com , very.co.uk , next.co.uk , zalando.com and nordstrom.com.

The decline in store sales, where costs are of a fixed nature, including rent, rates and service charges, coupled with continued investment outlined resulted in EBITDA loss of £8.4m on sales of £47.4m. Whilst a disappointing result, being the first set back since starting the business in 2011, it’s not unusual in a business with a short history, particularly in fashion retailing. We remain fully committed to the brand, as demonstrated by the investment we are continuing to make.

Investment continues to be funded by group’s own resources; free from external debt.

We are confident that the strengthening of our management team together with the infrastructure put in place, will take the brand to its next stage of development. It is well placed to meet the shift in customer requirements as a truly multi-channel retailer and brand.

For further information please contact:

Jess Littlewood Group Head of PR, Theo Paphitis Retail Group
jesslittlewood@tprg.com.

Theo Paphitis, Chairman Ryman, Robert Dyas and Boux Avenue said: 

“There is no doubt that the resilience and creativity of retail has been significantly tested over the last 3 years. I am, therefore, pleased with how our brands and colleagues have responded to the challenges of the pandemic which was closely followed by other significant negative economic and political factors in 2022. 

We saw a recovery in turnover and profit across all of our brands in the financial year to March 2022, as our customers returned to stores and we were pleasantly surprised to see more of a swing to this channel than expected. Although this seems to have been a market wide trend out of the pandemic, I also credit our colleagues serving our customers over the years for making our stores a retail destination for receiving both great products and service. 

Whilst we expect the headwinds caused by the global economic and political environment to make 2023 another challenging year, we have seen through previous difficult trading periods that customers still respond to retailers providing the right products, convenience and service. It may well be argued that, with a combined history of 280 years, Ryman and Robert Dyas have experienced almost everything that can be thrown at business and retail! 

Through peak Robert Dyas performed particularly well, with a campaign focussed on cutting the cost-of-living resonating with our customers. Energy saving products like air fryers, portable heaters and heated airers led the way. 

Ryman has seen sales build throughout the year, helped as people returned to offices, schools and universities, seeing a recovery in our city centre stores in particular. New ranges extending into the art and crafts market have also performed well and will be developed further. 

Whilst Boux Avenue has seen a volatile current year with online proving less resilient than its stores, we have continued to develop the business further. This is evidenced by the opening of two new stores in Derby and Reading with additional sites being considered for 2023 & 2024. We have also invested in automating our distribution centre to increase capacity and improve efficiency, to support growth plans. 

8 February 2023

For imagery or further information: Jess Littlewood, TPRG Communications Director, jesslittlewood@tprg.com

 

Customer Service

Colleague Training

Ryman is famous for our customer service, and colleagues in our nationwide network are committed to delivering the best customer experience to everyone who visits our specialist stationery stores. We achieve this by hiring people who are passionate about retail and care about our customers, by providing comprehensive training and development programmes, and by recognising and rewarding great performance.

Listening to our customers & colleagues

We are always keen to hear about ways we can improve. That’s why we encourage all our customers – and employees – to come up with ideas on how we can do things better, and what new things we should be doing.

We hope you enjoy your online experience with Ryman.co.uk and if you have any questions, please contact Customer services.

Services

Our Range of Services

As well as being the nation’s high street stationery specialist, many Ryman stores offer additional business services to customers. For example, our services include:

Copy & Print Services – All stores offer in-store print & copy services, and access to our in-house Print facilities to order a wide range of print products. Selected stores can print large format (posters, roller banners and window vinyls) and business cards in-store. All stores can order large format print for delivery.

Document Binding – All stores offer comb binding with selected stores also offering Wire, Click, Thermal & Hardback binding. Some stores produce hardback foiled student dissertations and theses. All stores can order dissertations and theses for delivery.

Laminating – All stores offer Laminating in store up to A3 size.

Fax service – All stores offer an international faxing service

Scanning – All stores offer a scanning service up to A3 size. Selected stores can also scan to email.

Photo booth – Selected stores have a photo booth in store to take your I.D photo’s.

Western Union Money Transfer – We also offer Western Union money transfer services in a selection of stores, allowing customers to send money across the globe in minutes.

For more information about our Business Services please visit services

All stores allow customers to order products for home delivery, which is particularly useful in the case of purchasing heavy items like chairs, desks, filing cabinets and the like. Just ask about this at any Ryman till.

We have been working with DHL since 2010, and have a DHL Service Point at many stores, in order to offer customers a courier service allowing customers to send parcels securely around the world or within the UK.

There are six Ryman stores that also have a Post Office.

Special Offers

Student Discounts

We offer a 10% discount for Unidays members. Students who are not Unidays members, can still receive 10% discount in store by showing their student ID.

We make sure the company’s investment in training ensures that our colleagues in the stores have an in-depth knowledge of their product range.

Gift Cards

We offer special pre-paid gift cards at various prices, allowing your friends and family to choose their own gifts!

Good Causes

Sponsorship and Fundraising

Ryman has a great track record in supporting good causes and has raised £2.5m for Comic Relief/ Sport Relief! Employee fundraising is encouraged at all levels.

Investing in our People

Introduction

Our Chairman, Theo Paphitis, believes that the most important people in our business are our colleagues who serve our customers. Theo emphasises that people should look forward to coming to work and feel valued and listened to. He is a strong advocate of investing in colleague training, development and apprenticeships.

Colleague Training and Development

We believe in training and developing our colleagues to empower them to fulfil their potential. Our extensive training programmes include a comprehensive induction programme to welcome new colleagues into the Ryman family, customer service, product knowledge and sales training, and a first class management development programme. We pride ourselves on promoting from within and retaining our best people, giving colleagues the resources to help them shine and progress.

Apprenticeships

We offer Apprenticeships at Level 2 in Retail Skills and at Level 3 in Management. Both programmes provide an externally recognised qualification and are supported by our in house Learning and Development Department and our external training partner, Fareport Training. We’re very proud that our Apprenticeship Programme was Highly Commended in the 2016 National Apprenticeships Awards.

Recognition and Reward

All our colleagues participate in incentive schemes which allow them to share in the success of our business, and our development programmes encourage people to stay with us and build a career. In addition we offer an amazing colleague discount scheme across all Theo’s retail businesses.

A Great Place to Work

We’re proud that our colleagues stay with us for a long time –something that is very unusual within the competitive retail industry. We believe that this, and colleague engagement of 79%, is a sign that our colleagues enjoy working here and feel that we recognise their contribution and support their development.

Ethical Trading

Sponsorship and Fundraising

Environmental Awareness

Product quality is important to Ryman and the company makes sure that all suppliers comply with the code of ethical trading (The Ethical Trading Initiative Base Code) and continues to monitor these standards on a regular basis. Like all forward-thinking companies, Ryman aims to minimise its carbon emissions and has put plans in place to achieve this important aim. (Please see Ryman and the Environment)

Loading...

Everything you need for work, home and learning

200 stores200 stores
Over 180 Stores
Click & CollectClick & Collect
Click & Collect
Top BrandsTop Brands
Top Brands
Print & CopyingPrint & Copying
Print & Copying
DHL Service PointDHL Service Point
DHL Service Point
Western UnionWestern Union
Western Union
Download our AppDownload our App