Aga Rangemaster cut almost 200 jobs – primarily across its production department – in 2023, as the company has also seen a sharp decline in sales for its cooker products.
Turnover at the premium brand fell by roughly £29m, to £115.5m in 2023, as revealed in Aga’s latest financial statement. The previous year saw turnover of £144.5m, representing a drop of over 20% in revenue year-on-year.
The company’s profits also took a significant hit, with its 2022 figure of £20.1m plummeting by almost 60% to profits of £8.3m.
In addition, the company also reported a steep drop in its number of employees between the two years. From a total employee headcount of 836 at the end of 2022, Aga Rangemaster’s latest figures reveal this has plummeted by almost 200, to be roughly 660. This represents a staff reduction of just over 21%.
Looking more specifically at which jobs have been lost, production roles were hit hardest, with 168 roles being cut, representing a year-on-year change of almost 30%.
An estimated eight sales and distribution roles have also been lost between the two years – an almost 5% decline – but the company’s admin staff numbers remain the same.
The latest financial report explains that the drop in staff numbers is a result of the current financial situation, “as activity was reduced in the challenging market conditions”.
However, it does acknowledge that export of its products to the US market have increased by almost 25% across the year.
Despite the poor results, Aga Rangemaster says its order book is “looking healthy for the future”. It believes the introduction of new models, such as the AGA ERA and the AGA eR7 will, “help future prospects”.
Addressing the results, the report adds: “The company has been negatively impacted by inflation in wages, logistics, energy, raw materials and component costs. Price increases and pricing strategies have been implemented to mitigate the impact of cost inflation on margins and the company continues to actively monitor costs.
“The UK is growing again but consumer confidence requires a sustained period of rising household incomes to recover to pre-downturn levels. Improved economic conditions would bring benefits giving the operational gearing of the company.”
Aga Rangemaster Group is owned by US giant Middleby Corporation, the same parent company behind brands such as Novy and La Cornue.
Earlier this year, Middleby officially re-opened its Aga showroom in Oundle, Peterborough. The 3,000 sq ft showroom space previously just displayed Aga products, but is now designed to be a co-branding space, also housing appliances under the Novy, La Cornue, Aga Outdoors, Josper and Kamadojoe brands.
