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Jasper Hart
September 22, 2020
Important to take calculated risks, says MD Matt Giles
A new consumer trade-in site is targeting £1 million in annual turnover within three years, as its founder looks to grow organically in the uncertain economic climate.
Matt Giles launched Preloved Tech on September 14, and says he brought forward the launch of his site due to the situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Giles is also managing director of TradologyUK, a tech recycler for corporate and education clients, and found its business drying up as lockdown set in.
“We planned to launch at the back end of next year, but we found our business naturally migrating to the consumer industry because businesses and schools have shut down,” he said.
Telford-based Tradology has moved into a 2,000-square-foot warehouse and added a new sales member to push the site, bringing its staff numbers to four. Giles plans to hire two more people by the end of this month before pursuing organic growth.
He anticipates that mobiles and tablets will constitute around 80 per cent of the business, with laptops making up the rest.
“We’ve got to work under a budget in such times,” he said. “It would have been quite easy to employ another four or five people and say ‘right, let’s chuck everything we’ve got at it’, but we have to work sensibly within our means and take calculated risks.”
Tradology will continue to operate with Giles at the helm of both businesses, but he eventually wants to preside over two distinct teams.
“A lot of people are saying it’s a difficult time to start a new business and expand, but it is the right time; you’ve just got to do it carefully,” he said.
Preloved Tech is one of at least three new consumer trade-in sites that have launched during lockdown, alongside Sell My Cell and the iOutlet’s trade-in proposition.