PayPoint acquires Appreciate Group to give stores voucher sales uplift

PayPoint has completed its takeover of Appreciate Group, giving partnered stores access to new shopping voucher sales opportunities.

A statement was first released by PayPoint on 7 November announcing the acquisition, valuing the shares of Appreciate Group, provider of Love2Shop, Park Christmas and HighStreetVoucher.com services at £83m. The move was also tipped to create an “enhanced retail proposition” across PayPoint’s network of 28,000 convenience stores.

Confirming the news today, PayPoint’s chief executive officer Nick Wiles said: “We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of Appreciate Group and to welcome all employees to the PayPoint Group, including Julian Coghlan and the wider leadership team, who bring a wealth of experience and expertise to our business. Work on integration is already underway, with an immediate focus on organisational alignment, building on the strong momentum in both businesses and unlocking commercial revenue enhancements.

Read more: PayPoint network grows to nearly 30,000 sites across UK

“The board believes [the acquisition] will deliver attractive returns for shareholders, with the enlarged group targeting further growth in three broad areas:

• Prepayment saving through Park Christmas Savings to support customers with budgeting tools for Christmas and other events
• An enlarged, full-service offering for gifting, employee rewards and benefits to Appreciate Group’s corporate clients
• An extended consumer gifting network for the Love2shop brand”

Steve O’Neill, PayPoint’s corporate affairs and marketing director, said: “The completion of our acquisition of Appreciate Group adds further strength to our brand portfolio and further opportunities for our retailers to earn supplementary revenue through commission. In the last year, total commission paid to PayPoint’s retail partners has increased by 25%, driven by the introduction of new products and services, alongside significant growth in existing offerings.

“Moving forward, our retailers also have the opportunity to take advantage of two key areas, creating a ‘super-agent’ network of 2,000-3,000 retailer partners for Park Savings and rolling out physical Love2shop gift cards across the network.

“With Park Savings, an essential budgeting tool for thousands of families, we’ll be targeting the Christmas savings cycle for 2024 rolling out from Sept 2023. In the interim we will continue to work closely with our network of brilliant retailer partners, helping support them through the economic environment with additional opportunities to earn and access to the UK’s leading brands.”

Julian Coghlan, former interim chief executive of Appreciate Group, has now been appointed as managing director of the Appreciate business on PayPoint’s board. Talha Ahmed, former interim chief financial officer of Appreciate Group, has been appointed as finance director.

Guy Parsons, former executive chairman of Appreciate Group, has been appointed as PayPoint’s non-executive director with effect from 23 March.

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