THG PLC – annual report 2025
Elevating corporate communications for a FTSE 250 global brand builder
“It was a pleasure working in close partnership with Lyonsbennett to deliver our annual report to a high standard through a demanding reporting cycle. The refreshed report presents THG’s strategy and business model with renewed clarity, translating complexity into a more straightforward, investor-focused narrative.”
Danielle Hales, Group Finance Director
THG PLC
The challenge:
The 2025 annual report marked the third year of our partnership with THG.
Following a shortlisting in the IR Society’s Best Practice Awards last year and a return to the FTSE 250, the objective was to consolidate strengths and celebrate the transformed group and a refreshed brand and a more editorial design approach. The team were also operating within a shorter timeframe for the project, with a drive to get the report finished a month earlier than the previous year.
The successful demerger of its commerce and logistics business at the beginning of the year represented a refocus for THG. A simplification in structure as a global beauty, health and wellness consumer brands group. Home to names such as Myprotein, Lookfantastic and Cult Beauty provides a clearer proposition for investors. Our job was to make that crystal clear in the report while supporting seamless collaboration on a time-sensitive project with multiple stakeholders.
Our approach:
The clarity, conciseness, transparency and credible ESG framing in the 2024 annual report was praised by IR Society judges, alongside the excellent usability of the online report and well-structured equity story.
Building on these great foundations, we focused on further elevating the report in line with the refreshed brand – while at the same time offering a deeper insight into the culture and demonstrating the future-forward company it is seeking to build.
Our research team conducted an extensive benchmarking exercise and a gap analysis against UK-listed peers, identifying targeted enhancements.
As a result, this year’s report saw the inclusion of a new “Our business model” spread to articulate value creation across the new streamlined group. In collaboration, Lyonsbennett and THG defined and refined its explanation of how the business makes money and its competitive advantages, drawing out its values, purpose, vision and stakeholders. Positioned as an opening spread, it acts as a hub for the strategic report and sets the tone for what’s to come with helpful cross-referencing to deeper reading.
A dedicated “Our culture” spread was introduced, helping to communicate the employee story. Third-party voices were used effectively in the stakeholders and section 172 disclosure, with quotes from key groups elegantly interwoven with the outcomes of engagement for an authentic and well-rounded perspective.
Case studies throughout this section showcased board decision-making in the context of multiple affected stakeholders and the company’s strategic priorities, representing a strong example of meaningful, outcomes-focused best practice corporate reporting.
Strategic copyediting windows were integrated into the timetable, allowing us to ensure messaging stayed clear and consistent throughout, helping to improve reader engagement and understanding. Feedback highlighting opportunities for refinement, linkage or better transparency was raised in good time and worked through together.
The use of an online self-editing platform ensured efficiency throughout the project, enabling multiple section owners to work concurrently, while regular quality control from Lyonsbennett maintained design and tone of voice integrity on an evolving piece of work – and all with an audit-ready redline trail.
The outcome:
The 2025 annual report delivers an even clearer, more cohesive corporate narrative that’s more reflective of the streamlined business. It dedicates time and space to the company’s impressive sustainability, stakeholder engagement and workforce story that underpins long-term financial success.
The representation of the business model translates complex value creation processes into accessible, investor-focused messaging and the revised structure and page flow enhances clarity for a wide range of users, strengthening articulation of THG’s equity story for investor audiences.
The integration of the new brand with the use of captivating imagery reflecting THG’s portfolio helps bring the report to life, reflecting a more editorial look and feel throughout the strategic report, creating a report that wouldn’t look out of place on the most stylish of coffee tables.