Profits at firm behind One4all gift card up by half

Profits at the company behind the One4all gift card increased by more than half last year as it embarked upon a radical digitalisation project and sought to expand beyond its current markets.

The Gift Voucher Shop, which opened for business in 2002 through a distribution partnership with An Post, is the company behind the One4all umbrella brand and the One4all gift card, which is a multi-store gift card operating in Ireland, Malta and the UK.

The company made a profit before tax of €5.95 million in 2016, 51 per cent ahead of the €3.94 million it made in 2015.

After income tax, profit for the year was €5.42 million, up from €3.66 million. Turnover for the year increased by more than a fifth to €13.8 million, compared to €11.3 million the previous year.

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The principal activities of the company are the sale of gift vouchers and gift cards, redeemable at outlets throughout Ireland via the An Post network, the internet, and through its corporate sales department.

The directors said they were “satisfied with the performance” of the company and were “confident that sufficient, appropriate systems and controls are in place” to ensure future turnover and profit growth.

‘Key risks’

The company outlined a number of “key risks” it is facing, including the “need to control costs” and the “quality of information technology systems”, which it said it was investing in on an ongoing basis.

The firm added one employee to its books in the sales and marketing department. However, wages and salaries shrunk from €1,658,433 in 2015 to €1,527,358 last year. Directors’ remuneration totalled €261,196, up from €249,704 the year before.

The company is a subsidiary of An Post, after the latter took a majority stake in the company for €9 million back in 2009.

In an interview with The Irish Times in July, Michael Dawson, the firm's founder and chief executive, said it was embarking on a "radical" digitalisation project, as well as looking to expand beyond the markets where it currently operates.

Its group corporate client base is now at 6,000 active clients.

The company has been contacted for comment.