Sol Retail's co-founders Barry and Katie Tong.
AN ONLINE retailer that began trading in a flat in Northampton and now turns over almost £20 million is among the recipients of a King’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.
Stephensons Online Ltd – which trades as Sol Retail – is one of only 197 organisations around the UK to receive the honour, one of the highest for UK businesses.
It has posted an increase in its international sales of 224% over the past three years and expects exports to make up around 85% of its total turnover by 2026-27.
Sol Retail’s chief executive Barry Tong, who founded the business with his wife Katie in 2012, said: “This award is a landmark not just for Sol Retail but for the vision and perseverance that has brought us here.
“When we started the business in a flat with £10 and a few eBay listings, we never imagined we would be where we are today.”
The company, which now trades at a warehouse on Northampton’s Swan Valley estate, has evolved from selling ornaments and DVDs on eBay to becoming one of Amazon’s premier global sellers, now ranked among the Top 100 sellers on Amazon UK & EU.
The business sells an item every 20 seconds, supports more than 100 global brands and helps its partners reach a combined audience of seven billion hits a month across third-party platforms worldwide.
Sol Retail’s unique model enables brands to hand over the full ecommerce journey, including product listing, brand positioning, fulfilment and delivery, to encourage growth across platforms like Amazon, eBay, Walmart, TikTok and Tesco Marketplace.
The business has grown without loans or outside investment. It has been entirely self-funded, said Barry. “We are now enabling global success for over 100 brands, delivering to customers worldwide, sometimes within the hour.”
The King’s Award for Enterprise comes as Sol Retail enters an ambitious new phase, aiming for a £50 million turnover by 2027 through continued global expansion and the development of AI-driven systems.
Alongside its own brands, which include The Bluebeards Revenge, Scrubbingtons, Below The Belt and Sol Beauty, Sol Retail supports health, beauty and wellness businesses that lack internal resources to expand globally.
“The King’s Award for Enterprise recognises the passion, grit and innovative thinking that our team bring to the table every single day and it marks just the beginning of our journey to £50 million and beyond,” said Barry.
Sol Retail also supports several UK charities and business networks, including The Lewis Foundation in Northampton to which it has donated more than £0.5 million-worth of unwanted stock, local Food Banks and Northamptonshire’s Mother Christmas gift appeal.
The company It also contributes actively to the local and national business community, engaging closely with The Department for Business and Trade and Innovate UK’s Scale-Up Programme.
The King’s Awards for Enterprise, previously known as The Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, were renamed in 2023 to reflect His Majesty The King’s desire to continue the legacy of HM Queen Elizabeth II by recognising outstanding UK businesses. The Award programme, now in its 59th year, is the most prestigious business award in the country, with successful businesses able to use the esteemed King’s Awards Emblem for the next five years.
Applications for King’s Awards for Enterprise 2026 are now open. For more information, visit www.gov.uk/kings-awards-for-enterprise.
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