In 2022 we had our new Ableworld Runcorn store open in May, which allowed us to help new customers within the borough of Halton area with their mobility needs. The new store opened with huge success, with special opening offers and give-away competitions attracting the local community. Runcorn store has continued to prove successful as the store team strengthen and grow relationships with local care homes and community groups.

We also had our long running Ableworld Wrexham store relocate to a shiny new premises, which allowed for an improved spacious store layout, an increase in stock levels, and a free customer car park.

We also celebrated some store Birthdays, including Queensferry store’s first birthday in September, Hanley’s 15th Birthday in July and Stockport’s 5th birthday in March. To celebrate these events we had birthday raffles, fantastic sales events and special promotional discounts. Alongside all of these celebrations we continued to support customers with our fantastic product sales and promotions, including a special Jubilee sale to offer great prices on our ever-growing product ranges.

At our Nantwich based Head Office we had numerous staff internal changes over the year, consisting of two new company Directors, as Tonya Page and Tony Leavy joined the Ableworld board. There were also several new Senior Managers appointed, and new departments created to reflect the continuing growth of the company. We ran two successful Business conferences, to both our Store Managers and our Franchise owners to highlight our vision of ‘People, Purpose, Passion’ for the year.

Supporting People and Communities

As always at Ableworld our customers are at the heart of everything we do. This year we have again been busy with numerous donations and charity days over the year. Our stores and head office team have taken part in coffee mornings, raffles, bake-offs and many other events to raise money for charities including Alzheimers Society, Macmillan Cancer Support, Lincoln Blind Society, and various other great charities. To note a few of our donations, our Ableworld Reading store donated many pairs of socks to a local homeless shelter, and our Chester store donated wheelchairs to injured Ukrainians based in Poland.

We have also run our ‘Win Back the Cost’ competitions throughout the year, where we have had 12 lucky winners win back the cost that they paid for their Riser recliner chair, Stairlift, Scooter or Adjustable Bed. We saw some lovely reactions from the Winning customers receiving their cheques, as we did also with those customers who we gave ‘random acts of kindness’ to across the year also.

Reflection

As much as 2022 has been a successful year for us, it has come with various challenges too. The supply chain issues throughout the year proved a test for our Buying & Admin team, however by working with our suppliers to source new stock lines we were able to continue to provide quality products for our customers. Our Stairlift department were similarly affected by stock issues, however we were still able to help many customers stay independent within their own homes through our brilliant in-house engineering teams. We are proud that all of our teams have been able to overcome the challenges to continue to put our customers first.

Nearing the end of the year we unfortunately received some very saddening news across the company, in that Barry Pearson, business owner of 7 Ableworld stores, suddenly passed away aged-55. Barry was seen as a true ‘Star’ at Ableworld as his store successes led him to helping thousands of customers to live more comfortable and active lives. His news was a shock to the whole company; however, Barry will forever be remembered as an exemplary colleague and friend within Ableworld.

As we enter a new calendar year, we hope to start 2023 off with a great Winter Sale, as well as a new store opening in the Newbury, Berkshire area. We look forward to continuing to support our amazing customers with all mobility aids, and forming new relationships within our store communities.

We hope for another year full of further celebrations and successes for Ableworld, so watch this space!