Profit boost for Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones ahead of DHL deal
A company which was sold by Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones to DHL at the end of 2024 returned to the black before the deal was signed, it has been revealed.
Brandpath Group, which was part of the PJ Investment Group, provides e-commerce businesses with global fulfilment services and works with the likes such as Google.
It was announced at the start of December 2024 that Peter Jones had sold a majority stake in the company to DHL Supply Chain for an undisclosed sum.
The Dragons’ Den star is to continue to chair Brandpath Group while the management team have remained.
Now, newly-filed accounts with Companies House for the Milton Keynes firm have revealed the business posted a pre-tax profit of £24,350 for the 12 months to 30 April, 2024.
The profit comes after the group fell to a pre-tax loss of £225,106 in the prior financial year.
This is the first pre-tax profit the group has reported since the £2.7m it achieved in the year to the end of April 2021.
The new accounts also show that its turnover fell from £14.6m to £12.1m over the same period.
A statement signed off by the board said: “Brandpath Group had a successful year, posting a profit before tac and growing operating profit by 11 per cent.
“The group also expanded its global footprint by opening a new facility in the APAC region.
“Brandpath delivered a healthy EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation] profit and continued to invest throughout the year in line with it long-term strategy for growth.”
The accounts for Brandpath Group come after City PM reported in July 2024 that Jessops, the camera retailer owned by Peter Jones failed to claw its way out of the red as its sales continued to slump despite a drive to target younger customers.
The Leicester-headquartered company, which has called in administrators three times since October 2019, saw its turnover dip to just under £20m in the 12 months ended 1 October, 2023, down from £21.5m in the year before.
As a result the company recorded a pre-tax loss of £1.20m – down slightly from a pre-tax loss of £1.22m in the previous 12 months.