Arts & Entertainment E-commerce Insights
Arts & Entertainment E-commerce
Explore the fastest growing UK Arts & Entertainment e-commerce companies over the last 27 years!
By analysing the Fast Track 100 data, which ranks the UK’s top 100 fastest-growing private companies each year, we’ve seen how “Arts & Entertainment” e-commerce has changed from 1997 to 2024.
Gift, merchandise, greeting card, book, music, stationery, arts & crafts make up the ‘Arts & Entertainment’ e-commerce sector.
Key Insights:
- Gift products retailers are the largest sub-group making up 25% of the ‘Arts & Entertainment’ companies listed in the Fast Track 100 (1997-2024).
- Character.com is the only “Arts & Entertainment” company to feature in the Fast Track 100 list four times (2017-20, 2022).
- The Book Depository has made the list three times (2008-10).
- 10 companies that have been in the list two times are The Gadget Shop (1998-99), Music Box (2000-01), Card Factory (2006-07), Dolphin Music (2006-07), Getting Personal (2009-10), MoonPig.com (2009-10), MenKind (2010-11), Notonthehighstreet.com (2011 & 2014), World of Books (2012-13) and OMG How Cheap (2019-20).
| Award Year | Rank | Name | Activity | Location | Sales £000s | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 74 | The Gadget Shop | Gadget retailer | Humberside | 12,151 | 73.32% |
| 1999 | 50 | The Gadget Shop | Gadget retailer | Humberside | 21089 | 86.87% |
| 2000 | 7 | Music Box | Music retailer | Essex | 6056 | 144.20% |
| 2001 | 43 | Music Box | Music retailer | Essex | 8,683 | 98.25% |
| 2004 | 13 | Firebox.com | Merchandise retailer | SW London | 4,400 | 156.09% |
| 2006 | 11 | Dolphin Music | Music retailer | Liverpool | 5,587 | 175.71% |
| 2006 | 44 | Card Factory | Greeting card retailer | Wakefield | 45,720 | 90.79% |
| 2006 | 55 | Buyagift.com | Gift retailer | North London | 6,722 | 83.01% |
| 2006 | 62 | Warehouse Express | Photography retailer | Norwich | 22,964 | 79.45% |
| 2007 | 37 | Dolphin Music | Music retailer | Liverpool | 9,295 | 93.38% |
| 2007 | 69 | Card Factory | Greeting card retailer | Wakefield | 72,122 | 74.38% |
| 2008 | 5 | The Book Depository | Book retailer | Gloucester | 40,201 | 160.15% |
| 2009 | 12 | Getting Personal | Gift retailer | Cheshire | 6,282 | 148.78% |
| 2009 | 22 | Moonpig.com | Greeting card retailer | Central London | 20,906 | 125.60% |
| 2009 | 55 | The Book Depository | Book retailer | Gloucester | 61,421 | 77.79% |
| 2010 | 17 | Moonpig.com | Greeting card retailer | Central London | 31,285 | 115.51% |
| 2010 | 51 | Getting Personal | Gift retailer | Cheshire | 9,470 | 71.97% |
| 2010 | 79 | MenKind | Gift retailer | Surrey | 13,742 | 52.18% |
| 2010 | 95 | The Book Depository | Book retailer | Gloucester | 74,272 | 45.54% |
| 2011 | 9 | Notonthehighstreet.com | Gift retailer | Richmond | 15,080 | 154.65% |
| 2011 | 38 | RED5 | Gadget retailer | Hull | 10,824 | 81.80% |
| 2011 | 95 | MenKind | Gift retailer | Surrey | 18,187 | 50.88% |
| 2012 | 22 | World of Books | Book retailer | West Sussex | 19,293 | 107.30% |
| 2013 | 94 | World of Books | Book retailer | West Sussex | 25,770 | 51.30% |
| 2014 | 57 | Notonthehighstreet.com | Gift retailer | Richmond | 21,136 | 65.90% |
| 2016 | 39 | Professor Puzzle | Gift retailer | Southwest London | 8,002 | 76.87% |
| 2017 | 46 | Character.com | Merchandise retailer | Swansea | 6,482 | 66.38% |
| 2018 | 50 | Character.com | Merchandise retailer | Swansea | 12,242 | 68.84% |
| 2018 | 80 | Fizz Creations | Gift retailer | West Sussex | 14,138 | 50.39% |
| 2019 | 42 | Character.com | Merchandise retailer | Swansea | 19,090 | 70.90% |
| 2019 | 68 | OMG How Cheap | Stationery retailer | Colchester | 7,127 | 52.21% |
| 2020 | 43 | Character.com | Merchandise retailer | Swansea | 27,773 | 62.42% |
| 2020 | 47 | Vanilla Underground | Merchandise retailer | Tamworth | 7,836 | 60.75% |
| 2020 | 66 | OMG How Cheap | Stationery retailer | Colchester | 9,501 | 48.73% |
| 2022 | 47 | thortful | Greeting card retailer | London | 34,230 | 69.73% |
| 2022 | 71 | Curious Universe | Arts, crafts and toys retailer | Southwest | 26,110 | 55.09% |
| 2022 | 99 | Character.com | Merchandise retailer | Wales | 53,190 | 42.97% |
| 2023 | 30 | Scriveiner London | Stationery retailer | London | 5,500 | 117.33% |
| 2024 | 44 | Gift & Go | Gift retailer | London | 32,800 | 110.68% |
| 2024 | 80 | Central 23 | Greeting card retailer | London | 8,000 | 71.12% |
Want to learn more about the Rise of E-commerce in the UK
Click this link to read more about the “Rise of E-commerce in the UK from 1997-2024”.
Britain's fastest growing private companies from 1997-2024
What is the Fast Track 100?
The Fast Track 100 league table ranked Britain’s 100 private companies with the fastest-growing sales over their latest three years. It is compiled by Fast Track and published in The Sunday Times each December. It ran from 1997 to 2020, until 30th June 2021 when the Fast Track company was closed down due to the Covid-19 pandemic causing too much uncertainty over continued sponsorship.
In 2022, The Sunday Times announced it was restarted the Fast Track 100. It is branded as – The Sunday Times Hundred 2022.
A typical Fast Track 100 company:
- is owned and run by entrepreneurs
- has between 20 and 500 staff
- has average 3 year sales growth ranging between 45% and 250% pa
- has sales ranging between £5m and £100m
- 25% of the companies have venture capital backing
Fast Track 100 League Tables 1997-2024
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