能男牛经降贸多大 公司理财 PROJECT 1 Kerria Carpets plc John Kerria had been the Sales Director of the largest carpet retailer in the UK for more than ten years.Following the appointment of a new Chief Executive,however,he became disillusioned with the direction in which the company was being taken and so decided to start his own business.With the help of a consortium of venture capitalists he founded Kerria Carpets plc,which began trading in 1994.The company sells carpets,rugs,vinyls and wood-like laminate flooring to the public and now has outlets throughout the south of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.The company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1997 and,at that point,the venture capitalists realised their investment in the company.However, John Kerria retained a twenty-five per cent shareholding and is the largest shareholder in the company.He is also the chairman and the chiefexecutive of the company. Kerria Carpets plc operates through two trading formats: -Carpet Park is a chain of out-of-town superstores that sells own-brand carpets to the lower and middle sectors of the market. -Carpetier is a chain of high street stores that sells high quality,branded carpets to the upper sector of the market. Both formats have traded profitably since the company was formed. John Kerria started the company in 1994 when the market for floor coverings was far from buoyant.Sales volumes and prices for the industry had been static for some years and there was considerable overcapacity within the carpet manufacturing industry.Nevertheless,he believed that it was possible to grow a successful carpet retail business by aggressively acquiring a large market share.A very large proportion of total carpet sales within the UK are made through more than four thousand small,independent retailers and John Kerria believed that it was possible to obtain competitive advantage through the use of scale.From the outset, Kerria Carpets plc was a relatively large player in the market and was able to buy large quantities of carpets from beleaguered carpet manufacturers at competitive prices.These price benefits were then passed on to the customer. John Kerria recognised that those customers seeking high-quality,branded carpets did not usually shop in out-of-town superstores and so the Carpetier chain of high street shops was created to cater for this end of the market.These shops provide a more personal service to customers within a showroom format.This had proved to be a successful strategy and sales for the highest-priced carpets have accounted for an increasing share of total sales of the company by volume(see below). Percentage of sales by volume for the year to 31 May 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Price per square metre(f) 1-15 55 53 48 46 42 16-30 31 30 28 27 26 >30 14 17 24 27 32 第1页共8页公司理财 PROJECT 1 Kerria Carpets plc John Kerria had been the Sales Director of the largest carpet retailer in the UK for more than ten years. Following the appointment of a new Chief Executive, however, he became disillusioned with the direction in which the company was being taken and so decided to start his own business. With the help of a consortium of venture capitalists he founded Kerria Carpets plc, which began trading in 1994. The company sells carpets, rugs, vinyls and wood-like laminate flooring to the public and now has outlets throughout the south of England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1997 and, at that point, the venture capitalists realised their investment in the company. However, John Kerria retained a twenty-five per cent shareholding and is the largest shareholder in the company. He is also the chairman and the chief executive of the company. Kerria Carpets plc operates through two trading formats: – Carpet Park is a chain of out-of-town superstores that sells own-brand carpets to the lower and middle sectors of the market. – Carpetier is a chain of high street stores that sells high quality, branded carpets to the upper sector of the market. Both formats have traded profitably since the company was formed. John Kerria started the company in 1994 when the market for floor coverings was far from buoyant. Sales volumes and prices for the industry had been static for some years and there was considerable overcapacity within the carpet manufacturing industry. Nevertheless, he believed that it was possible to grow a successful carpet retail business by aggressively acquiring a large market share. A very large proportion of total carpet sales within the UK are made through more than four thousand small, independent retailers and John Kerria believed that it was possible to obtain competitive advantage through the use of scale. From the outset, Kerria Carpets plc was a relatively large player in the market and was able to buy large quantities of carpets from beleaguered carpet manufacturers at competitive prices. These price benefits were then passed on to the customer. John Kerria recognised that those customers seeking high-quality, branded carpets did not usually shop in out-of-town superstores and so the Carpetier chain of high street shops was created to cater for this end of the market. These shops provide a more personal service to customers within a showroom format. This had proved to be a successful strategy and sales for the highest-priced carpets have accounted for an increasing share of total sales of the company by volume (see below). Percentage of sales by volume for the year to 31 May 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Price per square metre (£) 1–15 16–30 >30 55 31 14 53 30 17 48 28 24 46 27 27 42 26 32 第 1 页 共 8 页