High Street payments specialist Paypoint acquires Appreciate Group, a Liverpool business that was started in a family butchers shop in the 1960s, for £83m. Tony McDonough reports

Paypoint has acquired Liverpool voucher, corporate rewards and Christmas savings business Appreciate Group for £83m.

First agreed in November 2022, the deal sees Paypoint, a high street payments specialist, acquire 95% of stock market-listed Appreciate’s share capital. 

Now based at 20 Chapel Street in Liverpool city centre, Appreciate was originally known as Park Group. It began life as a Christmas savings and hampers club in a family butcher in Birkenhead in the 1960.

Founder Peter Johnson became one of Merseyside’s best-known business people. At different points he owned both Everton FC and Tranmere Rovers FC.

He sold the business several years ago and it eventually became Appreciate Group. It ended the Christmas hampers operation in late 2020 but still offers Christmas savings.

However, its core business is now focused on the popular Love2shop gift voucher and corporate rewards. In 2020 its 270 staff left their longtime Birkenhead Home and set up base in Liverpool. It maintains a storage and distribution hub in Wirral.

As part of the buyout, two former interim board members at Appreciate, chief executive  Julian Coghlan and chief financial officer Talha Ahmed, will be made managing director and finance director of Appreciate.

PayPoint offers multiple outlets across the UK for people wanting to pay their domestic bills and purchases credit for pre-payment energy meters.

It operates out of around 28,000 retailers, usually small newsagents or convenience stores. In 2021 it struck a deal with Appreciate to accept electronic gift vouchers across its retail network.

Nick Wiles, chief executive of PayPoint, said: “We are delighted to have completed the acquisition of Appreciate Group and to welcome all employees to the PayPoint Group, including Julian Coghlan and the wider leadership team.

“They bring a wealth of experience and expertise to our business. Work on integration is already under way, with an immediate focus on organisational alignment, building on the strong momentum in both businesses and unlocking commercial revenue enhancements.

“The acquisition is expected to be immediately earnings enhancing in FY24 and the board believes it will deliver attractive returns for shareholders.”

He added the enlarged group would target further growth in three areas: prepayment saving through Park Christmas Savings; an enlarged full-service offering for gifting, employee rewards and benefits to corporate clients; and an extended consumer gifting network for the Love2shop brand.