Case study
Retail
Helping a 40-store retailer grow revenue 38% by focusing on what actually sells.
Northline Retail had grown to 40 stores on instinct. We helped them see which products, stores and customers really drove profit, then rebuilt the business around them.
−21%
Inventory cost
6 months
Project length
2025
Year completed
01
About the project
A fast-growing retailer that had lost its focus.
Northline Retail sells furniture, homeware and gifts through 40 stores across the north of England. Over ten years it had grown quickly, opening stores and adding products whenever an opportunity appeared.
By 2025, growth had stalled. Sales were flat, stock levels were rising and margins were getting thinner every quarter. The leadership team asked us to find out what was really driving performance and build a plan they could act on quickly.
Client
Northline Retail
Industry
Home & lifestyle retail
Location
Manchester, UK
Timeline
6 months
Services
Strategy, range, pricing, operations
02
The challenge
Forty stores, 6,400 products and no clear view of what made money.
Too many products
6,400 products, and a third sold less than one a month.
A focused range of 4,350 products across four store types.
Cash tied up in stock
Slow sellers filled stockrooms and drained cash.
£3m released from slow stock and reinvested in bestsellers.
Every store ran differently
Each manager ordered and displayed products their own way.
One way of running every store, backed by simple guides.
Decisions made on instinct
Reports existed, but nobody trusted them.
A weekly dashboard every buyer and manager trusts.
03
How we got there
A six-month plan, built with the people who would run it.
Weeks 1–4
Diagnose
Weeks 5–10
Focus
Weeks 11–18
Rebuild
Weeks 19–24
Embed
04
The results
Fewer products, happier stores and a stronger business.
Within a year, Northline was selling more from a smaller range, with cash to invest in growth again.
−21%
Inventory cost
−32%
Fewer products, with no loss of sales
+9 pts
Full-price sell-through
Elena Marsh
CEO, Northline Retail
Client
Northline Retail