- Aga Rangemaster has been hit by the economic downturn and inflation
- The company has laid off 247 staff between the start of 2022 and end of 2023
Oven maker Aga Rangemaster has laid off 200 staff over the past year as the business struggles to sell its expensive line of cookers amid the ongoing energy crisis.
Aga’s products can range in price from £5,000 to more than £20,000 depending on their size, the amount of ovens and the type of energy used to power the cooker.
In its latest annual report submitted earlier this month, the company outlined the difficulty it is facing in the UK although it said sales in the United SStates were growing.
In a filing to Companies House, the luxury frim said turnover during 2023 had declined by 20.1 per cent ‘as Aga and Rangemaster cookers and cookware sales reduced primarily driven by challenging market conditions’.
Over the past year the firm has laid off more than one in five members of staff, according to its annual report.
The report showed between 2022 and 2023 the company’s turnover fell from £144.6million to £115.5m, while pre tax profits fell from £27.1million to £15.2million
On December 31, 2022, the firm employed 836 people which fell to 660 over the next 12 months
The firm’s directors warned: ‘The company has been negatively impacted by inflation in wages, logistics, energy, raw materials and component costs.’
These ‘headwinds’, such as high inflation and economic uncertainty ‘can impact customer demand’.
According to the report: ‘The UK is growing again but consumer confidence requires a sustained period of rising household incomes to recover to pre-downturn levels.’
The report showed between 2022 and 2023 the company’s turnover fell from £144.6million to £115.5m, while pre tax profits fell from £27.1million to £15.2million.
On December 31, 2022, the firm employed 836 people which fell to 660 over the next 12 months.
At the end of 2021, the firm had 907 staff, including 668 involved in production. At the start of 2024, some 430 production staff out of a total headcount of 660 remained on the firm’s books.
According to figures in the company’s annual report, between 2021 and 2023 the company lost more than 35 per cent of its production staff, along with 11.5 per cent who work in sales. Admin staff numbers increased by almost 17 per cent.
It total, the firm’s headcount reduced by 27.23 per cent as the company attempts to become more efficient.