// ScS buys Snug in a pre-pack deal with all jobs secured
// ScS will introduce Snug concessions to stores
ScS has bought Snug from administration for just £875,000 in a pre-pack deal and plans to add the brand’s concession to its stores.
The furniture giant snapped up Snug’s brand, domain names, website, IP and stock in the deal, in which Evelyn Partners acted as administrator.
Snug, which is expected to have turned over around £20m in 2022, was founded in 2018 and was Europe’s first sofa-in-a-box firm with the modular and reconfigurable furniture available in a range of colours.
It mainly traded online although it had one store in Leeds, which will continue to operate.
Although sales surged from £7m in 2020 to more than £30 million in 2021, difficult trading conditions, including a 700% increase in shopping costs, pushed the firm over the brink.
All 53 of Snug’s staff will join ScS as part of the acquisition.
The retailer said the move to add Snug concessions to its stores would significantly improve the brand’s visibility and penetration across the UK.
It said Snug’s strong brand and differentiated digital-first offer will complement ScS’s business and will further diversify its customer base and increase market share.
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ScS highlighted that the digital-first retailer’s innovative approach to social engagement, where it has more than 300,000 followers, and digital marketing would be an asset to the wider business while the sofa-in-a-box firm will benefit from the group’s expertise, supplier relationships and scale.
ScS chief executive Steve Carson said: “Snug is an exciting and young business with great potential.
It has a strong and recognisable brand, a differentiated product and targets a market that complements our proposition. In that regard, it presents us with an exciting opportunity to further increase market share.
“We therefore, view it as a great strategic and cultural fit which reinforces our commitment to helping our customers create the home they love. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues into the family.”
Snug management’s team said it had been a “rollercoaster few years balancing exponential growth with supply chain challenges and growing a team remotely through Covid”.
They added: “Snug set out to disrupt the industry with fast and convenient delivery of modular sofas, and this new partnership with ScS supports us in our ambitions to be a leader in the industry.”
Snug is the latest in a string of digital-native brands to have collapsed and subsequently snapped up by big retailers. Bensons for Beds bought Eve Sleep in October, while the Made.com brand was snapped up by Next in November.
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