Bath-based Bower Collective focused on profitability as it sees sales rise 234%

A Bath-based company, which is playing its part in the green revolution, has seen sales rise by 234% year-on-year (YOY) and is now focusing on profitability.
Eco home products Bower Collective was launched three years ago, employs 11 staff, and is based in Northgate Street. Presenter Davina McCall is a big fan and has recommended them on her 'Make the Cut' podcast.
Liquid products are delivered to customers, which they then pour into another container, and the packaging is then returned to Bower, which reuses it over and over again.
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Bower says just 9% of plastic waste is successfully recycled in the UK and it says it can save each customer around 100kg of plastic waste from landfill and incineration each year.
Co-founder Nick Torday said too many big consumer products firms were trying to bolster their eco-credentials by ‘greenwashing’ without cutting out single use plastic waste, which was a concern to 70% of consumers.
"I am delighted that the Advertising Standards Authority have started clamping down on brands making unsupported claims," he said.
Bower generates more than 68% of its revenue from loyal subscribers and Torday, who spoke about the company's growth on Brightpearl’s Lightning 50 podcast, said key to its future growth had been developing its own tech stack.
A new addition has been adopting Inventory Planner software, which gives the brand access to data driven sales forecasting, in-depth inventory data and robust, multi-levelled reporting.
"You cannot just rely on gut instinct with inventory otherwise you are flying in the dark. We have a laser focus on data in all our decision making and Inventory Planner tells us exactly what products to buy and when to buy them to reach growing customer demand," said Torday.
"It means we can ditch spreadsheet-based inventory calculations and instead receive integrated, accurate inventory insights across all our products, channels and warehouse locations that are always up-to-date."
Bower Collective said it had just closed a funding round of over £900,000 from private investors. From the first round, it invested in direct-to-consumer sales and boosted the firm’s presence in physical retail.
Torday added: "The world has changed dramatically over the last year and the consumer tech world is much more challenging. We are laser-focused on the pathway to profitability."
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