Highgrove Bathrooms racked up $140m in revenue in 2021-22 and is seeking to expand

A family-owned bathroom products business powered through Covid notching up $140m in annual revenue and is now ramping up its national expansion.

James Sinclair looks back at his family’s bathroom products business journey over the past 18 years with a certain awe.

From a small outlet that opened on the Gold Coast in 2004 by his father Lindsay, Highgrove Bathrooms now has 50 stores around Australia and last financial year recorded annual revenue of about $140m.

Over that time natural disasters, the Covid-19 pandemic and economic highs and lows have hit the retail sector leaving a string of casualties in their wake. But Highgrove Bathrooms continues to pass financial high-water marks.

Mr Sinclair, who is the company’s managing director, said they have seen some “crazy exponential growth”.

“Year-on-year we’ve recorded 20 to 40 per cent growth and gone and we opened our 50th store in Rockhampton earlier this year,” he said.

“One of our biggest challenges is being able to manage that sort of growth year-on-year and being able to expand the business and the infrastructure that goes with it.”

Mr Sinclair said there are more growth plans on the table and they were building new stores in Darwin, Ballina, Bathurst, Tweed Heads and halfway through expanding their Gold Coast head office and warehouse. They are also looking at establishing a distribution centre in Sydney within the next 12 months.

“At the moment we are waiting to see what happens in the property market but despite uncertainty sales remain strong. Still facing cost pressures from incredibly high overseas freight prices which are slowly subsiding,” said Mr Sinclair, a former plumber, who joined the family business in 2010.

Mr Sinclair said they have tapped into the homeowner renovator market including DIY-ers as well as tradies, and new home builders.

“There are a lot of companies that incorporate bathrooms but there aren’t many national companies that specialise only in bathrooms. That’s the big point of difference for us,” he said.

“Most of our customers don’t renovate often or have never renovated so we offer personalised service and advise people who come and visit our stores.

“Our ethos hasn’t changed over the years. It has always been our goal to offer our customers the best in design at an affordable price point.”

Highgrove Bathrooms managing director James Sinclair at the company’s Bowen Hills store.

Like many home renovation focused business Highgrove grew during Covid, recording $30.5 per cent rise in revenue in 2019-20 to $100m; 30.2 per cent in 2020-21 to $130m; and a more measured 8 per cent to $140m in 2021-22.

Mr Sinclair, while there was a home renovation boom during Covid as major factor in the Highgrove’s growth a vital ingredient was ensuring its stores and warehouses were well stocked.

“When Covid was first disrupting everything we were getting pressure from stakeholders to hold off ordering from overseas as no one knew what was going to happen,” he said.

“Not knowing what was going to happen, we kept our normal orders in place with the belief that the risk of being overstocked was easier to deal with than not having stock.

“This proved to be fortunate as stock shortages with competitors helped us to achieve record results, leaving us short on stock anyway. Since then, given the uncertainty in supply chains, we have focused on increasing stock levels nationally both in our stores and distribution centres.”

It’s a long way from when Lindsay Sinclair – who remains actively involved in the business – opened the Highgrove’s first store in Southport. Back then it was focused on furniture but the Sinclairs quickly recognised the opportunity in specialising in bathroom products.

The company, which now has 350 staff and a head office and warehouse in Molendinar on the Gold Coast and a distribution centre at Dandenong in Melbourne’ outer south eastern suburbs. In 2021-22 they sold about 20,000 baths, 44,000 toilets 53,000 vanity units and 46,000 basins.

Highgrove Bathrooms’ concrete basin.

Highgrove Bathroom designs products in-house, get them manufactured mostly in China and Vietnam and sell their own brands through their stores. Importantly, most of their stores operate under a partnership arrangement with individuals who are part of the local community which has seen relationships with the Smith Family and Rural Aid.

Mr Sinclair said the impact of home renovation television shows on his business cannot be understated.

“With the popularity of TV renovation shows people are looking for bespoke designer look for their bathrooms,” he said.

“People are looking for a far bigger variety of finishes when it comes to baths and we’re offering a far bigger range of finishes and textures these days than what we were offering previously.

“Eight years ago it was enough to offer a Matte Black range, four years ago, a range of products in pastels. Today the market is far more discerning and fastidious.’

Buyers are seeking products like brushed nickel tapware and accessories, concrete baths and basins, and a high-end range of timber vanities.

For their new Crete line the Highgrove design team drew inspiration from the Greek islands, combining the latest in concrete style and technology to evoke a sense of grandeur while remaining true to a pure aesthetic and unique organic form.

Mr Sinclair said they need to be “flexible” to be unique.

“We’re constantly re-engineering ourselves to keep up with an ever-evolving market,” he said.

“Recently one of our main focuses has been on the introduction of interchangeable components, allowing every customer to tailor a bathroom that is totally unique to them.”