A family-run business in Northampton set up in a bedroom to sell unwanted household items has become one of Amazon’s biggest retailers.
Sol Retail, based in Swan Valley, has celebrated its tenth anniversary by being named in Amazon’s Top 500 retailers, out of more than eight million sellers on the global platform. The company has grown from to £10 million turnover in ten years.
The health and beauty retailer works with more than 120 brands to sell their products on Amazon and has ambitious plans to increase turnover to £50 million in the next three years, creating dozens of new jobs.
Founder Barry Tong used the internet to sell ornaments and DVDs after clearing his grandmother’s bungalow when she died from asbestos poisoning in 2010. Selling online quickly became a passion.
“We made almost £2,000 from stuff I would have put in a skip,” says Barry. “We then went round car boot sales to get more stock to sell online and within no time we were turning over £5,000 a month.”
He and his and wife Katy received a call from Amazon which had noticed their activity online and was keen to set them up as an official retailer. Within months the couple’s hobby was turning over £100,000 and they went full-time, quitting their day jobs to focus on the new business.
International expansion quickly followed and Sol Retail set up dedicated channels in key overseas markets including the USA and across Europe.
“We have never taken out a loan or even used an overdraft,” says Barry. “It has just grown through hard work and having a good team around me. We are delighted to have reached the ten-year milestone and cannot wait to get started on the next ten years.”
The company plans to hit £50 million turnover include the hiring of ten apprentices a year for the next three years.
“We employ 32 people at the minute but we are going to need more and investing in young people is the way to go,” says Barry. “It is all part of our succession planning. By getting them in early, we can create the kind of employee we know we are going to need in a couple of years’ time.
“As long as they show the right attitude, they arde going to get a full-time job and be on good money by the time they are 17 or 18.”
Sol Retail, which works with brands including Uppercut Deluxe, Wetbrush and Dapper Dan, donated £10,000 of hand sanitisers to the local community in Flore at the height of the pandemic. The company has also donated thousands of pounds of goods to local charities including the Lewis Foundation and food banks in Northampton.
“We are a global business now but our roots are very much in Northamptonshire,” says Barry. “We want to create a business for the county to be proud of, that gives our young people a chance in life and showcases the talent we have locally.”
