Victorian Plumbing Group announces move to reinvent MFI brand in half year results

Victorian Plumbing Group looks set to enter the UK homewares market through the 'reinvented' MFI brand.

The announcement was revealed as the Leyland headquartered business posted interim half year results and it showed the firm was making ‘strategic progress’.

The MFI brand and three letter domain name were bought as part of the Victoria Plum acquisition.

It represents a £3m investment in people and property costs for the financial year 2025 as part of the launch.

MFI will now underpin Victorian Plumbing's entry into homewares, and the product range fits with the firm’s existing customer base.

Victoria Plum ceased trading in November 2024, with the expensive Doncaster lease and other operating costs exited in January 2025.

In accounts for the six months to 31 March 2025, revenue at Victorian Plumbing grew by six per cent to £152.7m, boosted by a strong second quarter following completion of a warehouse transformation in December 2024.

Adjusted EBITDA increased by 15 per cent to £15.2m, while adjusted pre-tax profit increased by three per cent to £11.8m.

Total orders increased 10 per cent to 542,000 reflecting continued market share gains in a subdued trading environment and tiles and décor revenue rose 36 per cent to £7.6m and it represented five per cent of total revenue.

Mark Radcliffe, founder and chief executive of Victorian Plumbing, said: "Having invested significantly in preparing the business for future growth last year, I am pleased with the group's strategic progress in the first half. 

"We are fully operational in our new purpose built warehouse and have continued to improve our customer proposition, while expanding product range into other rooms within the home and taking significant market share gains in a subdued trading backdrop.

"I am very excited about the upcoming re-invention of MFI, allowing us to tap in to more of the £20bn UK homewares market. Our dedicated and ambitious team, decades of ecommerce knowledge and best-in-class proprietary software, together with the recognisable MFI brand, will help to deliver our strategic ambition over the medium-term.

"Victorian Plumbing has always taken an opportunistic and entrepreneurial approach; alongside this we have built a business that invests in the future, has solid financial foundations and is committed to delivering long-term value to all shareholders, as epitomised by our enhanced capital allocation policy and increased interim dividend."

In the results, the business said that ‘momentum in Q2 improved in April with double digit revenue growth in the month’ and taking into account the MFI set-up and launch costs that profit before tax was ‘expected to be between £21m and £22m’.

MFI closed back in 2008 with the loss of 1,400 jobs.