Cotton Traders hails strong year despite tough backdrop, marketplace additions are key growth drivers

Cotton Traders delivered “solid growth in the headwinds of a challenging macroeconomic environment” in its 2025 financial year with the UK catalogue and online heritage fashion brand seeing a 5.2% increase in revenue.

Turnover was £113.5 million for the 52-week period ending 27 December (up from £107.9 million in 2024). And it achieved an operating profit of £10.3 million, up 8.5% year on year. Meanwhile EBITDA of £12.1 million edged up only 1%.

The company said it saw growth across all areas of the business, with the addition of six new stores increasing the estate to 94 sites in total. 

But the big growth was online as it added two new marketplaces and saw higher online and catalogue sales. Online/catalogue accounted for 76.3% of overall sales and it now operates across five marketplaces. In fact, its launch via George at Asda and Next led to overall marketplace revenue increasing by 58%.

The company said Melanie Harries, who was its new buying and merchandising director as of September 2024, had been appointed to spearhead the company’s investment in product strategy, focusing on expanding its men’s and women’s collections. And this paid off in 2025 when it launched its CT Active and Rugby Heritage ranges in December. Further womenswear range expansion continued into 2026, with the new Sea glass collection having launched in March.

It added that brand awareness and future growth came through its Full of Surprises campaign, which ran in two six-week bursts across March/April and September/October. Using humour to challenge audience perceptions, the campaign encouraged consumers to rethink what they know about the brand. 

And it continued to use celebrity ambassadors such as broadcaster Alex Jones, TV personality Will Mellor and A Place in the Sun presenter Jasmine Harman continuing their ongoing links with the brand.

Overall, CEO Nick Hamblin credited the company’s good year to “our competitive price point and strong quality product offering. A growth in our store portfolios and online penetration is testament to the success of our wider growth strategy as we continue to invest in the right areas to enhance all our customer touchpoints”.