By Kristy Dorsey
Historic Scottish herbalist Napiers is set for “significant” expansion following its £1.7 million acquisition by e-commerce group Samarkand.
Founded in Edinburgh in 1860, Napiers employs 50 people across its three branches in Glasgow, Bathgate and the Scottish capital selling herbal remedies, food supplements, skincare and wellness products. It is being sold by a group of shareholders including Monica Wilde and Dee Atkinson who have led the operation for a number of years, and will be staying on with the business.
A spokesman for Samarkand – which was founded in London in 2016 with a focus on connecting Western brands with China – said the group plans to “significantly” increase staffing numbers with the expansion of Napiers’ presence in the UK and abroad.
More than 5,000 customers a year currently consult with Napiers practitioners, with products also stocked in Selfridges and John Bell & Croyden, pharmacists to the Queen. The business generated revenues of £1m during the year to the end of March, with earnings of £240,000.
READ MORE: Uncertain future for herbal remedy firm hit by EU laws
“Samarkand Group is very aware of the history and responsibility we have as custodians of an iconic and important Scottish brand and will continue to fulfil our obligation to the valued customers that have used Napiers for many years,” the spokesman said.
Established by renowned herbalist Duncan Napier, the brand still operates from its original apothecary in Edinburgh’s Bristo Place. The shop was revived in the 1990s by Ms Atkinson, where she practices as a medical herbalist.
The transaction involves an initial cash payment of £1.7m, plus a deferred consideration of £100,000 cash between six and nine months after the deal is completed. Further small contingency considerations may also be payable after the acquisition, settled in either cash or shares.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here