January 2024 ertonline.co.uk


Marks Electrical lowers profit guidance despite rise in sales


Marks Electrical has lowered its full year profit guidance despite higher sales in its Q3 and growth in market share. The online retailer said that this was due to a challenging environment “where consumers remain highly price-conscious”, which impacted its peak trading period. In the three months to 31 December, Marks


saw revenue growth of 17.8 per cent to £35.1 million, which meant that sales in the nine months


to December were up 22 per cent to £88.9 million. However, the company said these figures did not increase to the levels it expected. As a result, it now expects its full year revenue to be in the range of £115-118 million with EBITDA in the range of £5-6 million. However, Marks did report of increased market share in the MDA and CE markets. “Going forward, we remain cautious on the speed of recovery in consumer buying patterns, which we expect


Government proposes e-waste recycling reforms


to temporarily impact the recovery of our gross product margin,” the company said in its latest trading update. CEO, Mark Smithson, said: “I remain confident about our long-term growth prospects and continue to be impressed by our ability to deliver market share gains profitably, against a fiercely competitive backdrop.”


Amazon’s iRobot takeover to be blocked by competition watchdog


Amazon’s takeover of the


vacuum cleaner brand, iRobot,


is set to be blocked


by the European Union’s competition watchdog. According to reports by the BBC, The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) previously contested the acquisition in the UK, saying that iRobot’s place in the UK market was “modest” and that it already faced several significant rivals. However, it’s a major setback


for Amazon,


The Government has announced plans to change how consumers dispose of their unwanted electricals, saying it will ensure that “retailers can turn old goods into new wares”. It estimated that 155,000 tonnes of small household electricals, such as toasters, kettles and power tools, are wrongly thrown in the bin; UK households are thought to be hoarding a further 527 million unwanted electrical items containing precious metals. Recycling Minister, Robbie Moore, said: “Every year millions of household electricals are not correctly recycled or reused. This is a sheer waste of our natural resources and it has to stop. Our proposals will ensure these gadgets are easy to dispose of, while driving the move to a circular economy and creating new jobs.”


The proposals include: • UK-wide collections of waste electricals directly


from households – financed by manufacturers;


• Large retailers rolling out collection points for electricals in-store;


• Retailers and online sellers collecting unwanted or broken large electrical items, such as fridges or cookers, when delivering a replacement.


Rob Sant, Managing Director of AO.com’s electrical recycling operations, said: “We are the only UK electricals retailer with its own fridge recycling plant; we recycle a fifth of all the fridges that are thrown away each year and, since we opened it in 2017, we’ve recycled or reused over seven million large appliances.


“This gives us a unique perspective to input to this consultation on the practicalities for our industry, driving higher standards and making it easier for customers to recycle more electrical waste.”


after the UK Government’s competition watchdog gave the merger the green light last Summer, concluding that the deal would not lead to competition concerns. But now, it’s been reported that regulators are worried that iRobot’s tie-up with Amazon could make it difficult for other vacuum cleaner manufacturers to compete, especially if Amazon was to favour the robot vac brand on its e-commerce site. “If the objective is to have more competition in the home robotics sector, this makes no sense,” Matt Schruers, President of the Computer and Communications


Industry Association, told


Reuters. “Blocking this deal may well leave consumers with fewer options, and regulators cannot sweep that fact under the rug.” Amazon originally moved to buy iRobot, creator of the Roomba cleaner, in August 2022 in a deal worth £1.4 billion. It said it was looking to expand its footprint in the smart home appliances market.


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