Office Depot owner loses over £50m ahead of quitting UK thanks to working from home trend
OT Group, the owner of Office Depot and the Spicers wholesale brand, lost more than £50m in the year before it revealed plans to quit the UK.
The Greater Manchester-headquartered group has posted a pre-tax loss of £52.5m for 2023, having also lost £15.8m in 2022.
Newly-filed accounts with Companies House also reveal that turnover at the owner of Office Depot fell from £120.8m to £109.8m over the same financial year.
The last time the group reported a pre-tax profit was the £10.1m it posted in 2020. The group also lost £5.3m in 2021.
The latest results come after Office Depot’s owner announced in August this year that it intended to quit the UK and Ireland.
In a statement, OT Group blamed a “sustained period of difficult trading conditions”.
During 2023, the group’s headcount fell from 553 to 529.
Office Depot to be sold
A statement signed off by the board said: “The company has recently completed a comprehensive review of operations in the UK and Irish markets, promoted by the lower demand for general office supplies which has resulted from new working practices and the low office occupant rates, which have not been restored to pre-Covid levels.
“The company does not expect office occupancy rates to increase significantly in the foreseeable future and it has also concluded that the current over supply of warehousing and distribution facilities in the UK office supplies market is not sustainable.”
OT Group added that Office Depot’s UK and Ireland businesses will be sold to PCC Global.
The group’s Officeteam business will also be sold to the company while the assets of Vow Wholesale in the UK and Ireland will also be disposed of.