Lower-mid market private equity firm NorthEdge is celebrating a year of success with pure-play e-commerce brand, Lights4fun.
NorthEdge announced its investment into the direct-to-consumer business in November 2020 and has since achieved many key milestones with the brand.
Within the first twelve months of the partnership, NorthEdge has supported the management team at Lights4fun to make several key hires which help unlock the significant growth potential, both in the UK and internationally.
David Stern was appointed as the business’ first Chair, followed by Amman Boughan as CFO and Ikonya Nginyo, who was appointed to lead the US operations. The business has also recruited a Head of CRM and a data team to further enhance its data analytics capabilities, as well as an Operations Director and a Head of HR.
Stern, originally from New York, previously held a number of global CEO and digital marketing roles, while Ikonya has worked with many consumer brands in the US. Their appointments have helped the business to accelerate its international expansion plans, across people, sales and operational effectiveness.
Amman was also a critical hire, helping the business to achieve continued strong growth, having previously held several senior financial positions at businesses including Sky Betting & Gaming and Harrogate-based energy company CNG.
In May 2021, Lights4fun launched its dedicated US website, Lights4fun.com, which allows the business to expand its US range from approximately 150 products to more than 600.
Events throughout the year from the Super Bowl to St Patrick’s Day, Cinco De Mayo and Thanksgiving mean there is a huge market in the States for Lights4fun products. Having a dedicated e-commerce platform in the American market gives the business more control over how it engages with customers and the products it takes to market, to support this further the business has a dedicated team of four based in New York, led by Ikonya, to ensure it can continue to offer customers a high-quality experience wherever they are based.
Alongside delivering strong earnings growth, Lights4fun has continued to focus on its social and environmental impact.
In the last 12 months the company has updated its packaging to become more sustainable, with boxes simplified and reduced in size, while polyfoam has been replaced with EPE foam, which can be recycled. This is a huge step in the right direction for the business to reduce its impact on the environment. Lights4fun are continuously working towards reducing their packaging wherever they can alongside increasing the number of solar products in the range.
Recognising the importance of the health and wellbeing in the workplace the business has also supported 24 people in their team to become mental health first aiders.
The business is a regular supporter of the Starlight Children’s Foundation, raising money for the charity throughout the year and giving customers the opportunity to make a donation at the checkout page of their website.
Additionally, they have supported the mental health charity, Mind, and the environmental charity, Friends of the Earth, by donating money from every purchase of their ‘Be Kind’ neon light and Bee Lanterns products.
Kieran Eblett, Managing Director of Lights4fun, said: “Lights4fun has continued to achieve stellar growth thanks to the dedication of our team and the success of our exciting product range.
“The collaboration with NorthEdge and the significant investment into Lights4fun’s people over the last twelve months has helped lay the foundation for the next few years, as we establish ourselves in the US market and continue to invest in our data capabilities to further enhance the customer experience and drive lifetime value.”
James Marshall, Investment Director at NorthEdge, says: “As we near the end of 2021, Lights4fun is on track to achieve strong performance once again. Sales are up more than 35 per cent year on year, and demand for the business’ Christmas décor and lighting has grown substantially, with significant further growth expected over the upcoming festive period.
“We’re thrilled that it’s been a very bright start, but there’s lots more to come. We look forward to continuing to support the team to deliver the Value Creation Plan and celebrate even more success over the next 12 months.”
