SOL RETAIL

Sol Retail (trading name of Stephensons Online Limited) is a British online retailer and marketplace management specialist focused on branded health, beauty and wellness products. Founded in 2010 by husband-and-wife team Barry and Katy Tong with an initial investment of just £10, the company began by selling household items on eBay before pivoting entirely to branded beauty. It reached £1.4 million in turnover by 2014, officially passed £10 million in its tenth year, and is now approaching £50 million in annual revenue, a milestone it targets by 2027 — growth achieved organically without loans or external investment.

Sol Retail operates as a genuine retail buyer: it purchases inventory outright from more than 60 premium beauty and wellness brand partners and manages the end-to-end resale of those products across global online marketplaces. The company is ranked among the Top 10 Amazon sellers in the UK and EU, selling an item every 20 seconds, and trades on Amazon worldwide, Walmart.com in the US, Tesco Marketplace, Superdrug Marketplace, Holland & Barrett Marketplace, Debenhams Marketplace, Temu UK and eBay UK, with active markets including the US, Canada, UK, Australia, EU, JP, UAE, and SG.

For its brand partners the company provides a model covering inventory purchasing, fulfilment and logistics from its warehouses in the United Kingdom and the United States (enabling next-day delivery), creative content, SEO and advertising, brand protection, promotions and detailed data reporting, generating over 11 billion monthly impressions. Alongside distribution of partner brands, Sol Retail owns and develops its own consumer brands, including The Bluebeards Revenge (male grooming), Scrubbingtons (children's personal care), Below The Belt and Sol Beauty.

Headquartered in Brixworth, Northampton, the company employs a team of 40 specialists led by CEO Barry Tong and COO Sarah Sivyer. Sol Retail was honoured with the King's Award for Enterprise in International Trade and ranks 136 out of the UKs fastest growing companies 2027 by the Finandcial Times. As a buyer, the company is primarily interested in branded beauty, personal care, grooming and wellness FMCG lines suited to marketplace retail, where it can take ownership of stock and scale brands across its international channel network. The company states that it helps ambitious beauty brands triple their growth within two years, and its focus on purchasing inventory outright — rather than acting on consignment — makes it a direct trade customer for beauty and wellness manufacturers seeking marketplace expansion.