Monday 24 March 2025, 12pm GMT
Hilco is seeking offers to acquire the intellectual property and tangible assets of Kidly Limited (In Administration) (“Kidly” or the “Company”) on behalf of the Joint Administrators of the Company, Tom Gardiner and Lee De’ath of Begbies Traynor (Central) LLP.
Launched in 2016, Kidly was a design-led, digital-first retailer that redefined children’s shopping for modern parents. Founded by James Hart, an early ASOS executive, the Company offered a carefully curated selection of stylish, high-quality essentials for children aged 0-5, blending functionality, sustainability, and aesthetic appeal. In 2019, Kidly introduced its own-brand collection, Kidly Label, which quickly became its best-performing range, celebrated for its modern designs, thoughtful details, and commitment to organic, recycled, and planet-friendly materials. By 2022, Kidly Label accounted for 40% of the Company’s total sales and achieved an impressive 76% intake margin, reinforcing its strong market position.
The brand gained significant traction during the pandemic, with revenue surging from £4m to £13m in 2020, cementing its place as a leading name in premium children’s retail. The Company’s reputation for contemporary, high-quality and design-focused products led to an approach from Next in 2022, resulting in Kidly Label being stocked on its platform, expanding Kidly’s reach to a wider audience. Alongside its commercial success, Kidly built an engaged and loyal community of over 600k parents and caregivers, with c. 199k Instagram followers, c. 103k on Facebook, and c. 298k email subscribers. Further, the Company’s mobile-optimised e-commerce platform provided a seamless shopping experience, designed with busy parents in mind.
Kidly’s approach combined a strong direct-to-consumer strategy with a curated selection of premium third-party brands, ensuring a balance of exclusivity and variety. The Company’s move to Shopify introduced further efficiencies and unlocked opportunities for international expansion, enabling sales across Ireland, the US, and Europe. With a well-established own-brand range, a highly engaged customer base, and a proven ability to scale, Kidly held a distinctive and carefully cultivated presence in the modern children’s retail space.
This acquisition offers the opportunity to take ownership of a widely recognised and carefully cultivated brand in the premium children’s retail space. With a proven track record in delivering stylish, design-led products and an engaged community of loyal customers, an acquirer has the ideal platform to re-establish a market-leading presence in the growing demand for contemporary, sustainable kids’ lifestyle products. The Company’s strong digital infrastructure, multi-channel sales strategy, and established retail relationships present an immediate opportunity to capitalise on existing brand equity and drive future growth in both direct-to-consumer and wholesale markets.
Kidly quickly became a leading name in modern children’s retail, offering a carefully curated selection of stylish, design-led essentials for babies and toddlers. Built on a foundation of contemporary aesthetics, sustainability, and thoughtful functionality, the brand resonated with parents looking for high-quality alternatives to mass-market children’s products. By combining its own-brand range, Kidly Label, with a handpicked selection of premium third-party brands, Kidly established itself as a trusted destination for discerning parents who wanted products that looked good, lasted longer, and aligned with their values.
Kidly’s reputation for quality and innovation attracted significant media attention, with coverage from industry outlets such as CBW Magazine, Retail Week, and Toy World Magazine. The brand’s credibility was further reinforced by consistently high customer satisfaction, with over 30,000 reviews averaging 4.9/5. This strong reputation led to recognition from Next, which approached Kidly to stock Kidly Label on its platform, offering an additional retail channel that expanded its reach to a broader audience. Kidly also cultivated a powerful digital presence, building an engaged community of over 600,000 parents across Instagram, Facebook, and email marketing. Social media played a central role in its growth, with engaging content, a strong visual identity, and positive customer feedback driving impressive organic reach and sustained customer engagement.
At the heart of Kidly’s success was Kidly Label, its own-brand collection of clothing, toys, and homeware, designed to be stylish, sustainable, and highly practical for modern family life. With a 76% intake margin, it quickly became the most commercially successful part of the business, consistently delivering strong repeat purchase rates. The brand’s ethos of balancing aspirational design with everyday usability ensured it stood out in a crowded market, appealing to parents looking for high-quality products that blended contemporary style with real-life practicality. Through its retail partnerships, extensive online following, and reputation for quality, Kidly established itself as a leading name in the premium children’s lifestyle market, creating a brand with deep consumer trust and lasting appeal.
The Kidly brand and logo are protected by a portfolio of registered trade marks with international coverage, safeguarding its identity across key markets and providing brand protection in the UK, Europe and Australia.
Full details on the Company’s trade marks are available via a virtual data room.
Kidly’s e-commerce platform was designed to provide a seamless, engaging, and efficient shopping experience tailored to modern parents. Built with a mobile-first approach, the site ensured effortless browsing and purchasing, catering to busy caregivers who value convenience as much as quality.
The Platform offers intuitive navigation, dynamic product displays, and a highly visual user experience, allowing customers to explore a carefully curated selection of children’s clothing, toys, and homeware with ease. Detailed product pages featured high-resolution imagery, customer reviews, and editorial-style content that reinforced Kidly’s strong brand identity, helping shoppers make informed purchasing decisions.
A key strength of the Platform was its integrated customer engagement tools, including personalised recommendations, wish list functionality, and abandoned cart reminders, all of which enhanced conversion rates and encouraged repeat purchases. The checkout process was frictionless and secure, supporting multiple payment options such as credit and debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Klarna, ensuring accessibility for a wide range of customers.
The Platform was also highly scalable and flexible, enabling Kidly to expand internationally while maintaining a seamless user experience. Localised pricing, currency conversion, and tailored shipping options supported cross-border sales, while advanced analytics and performance tracking allowed the brand to refine its marketing strategy, optimise product listings, and drive higher engagement.
A host of Kidly-branded domain names are available to acquire, including the primary kidly.co.uk domain name
Copyright in the website content hosted at kidly.co.uk is available to acquire. Built on Shopify, the website offers a seamless and intuitive shopping experience, designed with modern parents in mind. Its mobile-optimised interface ensures effortless browsing and purchasing, while high-quality product imagery, engaging editorial content, and a carefully curated layout reflect Kidly’s focus on design, functionality, and sustainability. The site features detailed product listings, customer reviews, and interactive brand storytelling, reinforcing Kidly’s reputation for contemporary, stylish, and practical children’s essentials. Integrated marketing tools, including personalised recommendations, promotional campaigns, and a strong sustainability narrative, enhance engagement and align with the growing demand for ethically produced, high-quality children’s products.
Rights in the social media accounts are also available to acquire across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube, with over 300k followers across all the Company’s platforms.
Full details on the Company’s social media accounts are available via a virtual data room.
The Company’s vast database of over 298k customer records is available to acquire.
The Company maintained a database of its key suppliers, which is also available to acquire.
Stock is mainly made up of KIDLY Label’s best-selling categories, including footwear, denim and feeding products. The footwear offering consists of the Company’s best-selling jelly sandals, beach shoes and rain boots, all in full size ratios.
Full details on the Company’s stock are available via a virtual data room.
A range of office equipment and computer hardware are available for acquisition.
Full details on the Company’s tangible assets are available via a virtual data room.
Offers are due Monday 24 March 2025 at 12pm GMT.
All expressions of interest and bids are to be directed to Hilco in writing. A Bid Submission Form is available on request. Please contact Hilco to gain access to a virtual data room of further information on signing a confidentiality agreement.
The Joint Administrators act as an agent of the Company and without personal liability.
The bidder acknowledges that Hilco acts as an agent for the Joint Administrators who offer for sale only what right, title and interest (if any) the Company possess in the assets. Such sale will be without any warranties, expressed or implied. The information provided has not been verified by Hilco or the Joint Administrators, and bidders are deemed to have carried out their own due diligence.
VAT, if applicable, at 20% will be added to the price. A non-refundable deposit of 20% will be payable by the buyer within 48 hours of bid acceptance. A buyer’s premium of 10% of the sale price is payable by the winning bidder. Legal completion to occur within 5 business days of bid acceptance. Hilco’s full Terms and Conditions apply.
Associate Director
Manchester Office
