Gloucester-based ProCook Acquires Steamer Trading

Published by

Nicky Godding

Leading UK cookware and kitchen retailer ProCook, which has its headquarters in Gloucester, has announced the purchase of Steamer Trading. , the speciality kitchenware retailer with 38 stores across the UK.

The acquisition includes 27 Steamer Trading stores, the e-commerce business and the head office team.

As part of the sales process, Steve Absolom and Will Wright of KPMG LLP were appointed joint administrators of Steamer Trading Limited on 9 January 2019.

Following their appointment, the joint administrators completed an agreement to sell 27 Steamer Trading stores and the majority of the business and assets to ProCook. A further store – trading under the Divertimenti brand in Knightsbridge – has been acquired by Divertimenti Limited. Both deals see 332 jobs being secured.

Daniel O’Neill, owner of ProCook said: “We are delighted to announce this news and see it as a fantastic opportunity for Steamer Trading and ProCook to grow both brands. Our focus will continue to be on providing excellent value for money, great service and innovative high-quality homewares.”

He adde:, “We are very excited about the future, though because of high rent and rates and the current retail climate we had to make the decision not to take on all the stores. However, we will endeavour to fill all vacancies across our stores by transferring people from closing stores.

Clare Burgess, who previously was the Trading Director of Steamer Trading, will now head up the Steamer Trading Cookshop brand. She said:

“While I am sad to say goodbye to some colleagues, I’m excited about the future for Steamer Trading. The new Steamer trading stores will be offering an exciting shopping experience with a great mix of exclusive products alongside iconic kitchen and homeware brands.”

Ten Steamer stories will be closed. These include Battle, Heathfield, Westerham, Dorking, Bluewater, Taunton, Wells, Cambridge, Glasgow and Bournemouth

The others, including those in Bath, Bristol, Cirencester, Hereford, Thame and Witney will remain open.

Nick Holloway, Director at KPMG UK, who led the sale, said: “We are delighted that we have been able to rescue such a long established business including a high proportion of stores and preserve a large number of jobs, especially given the current economic pressures faced by retailers across the UK. The trade sale compliments the existing ProCook business and further increases their high street presence.”

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.