During the late 1990s and 2000s, Karrimor's business grew but its financial robustness faltered as it took on investors and bought other companies. The UK was again in recession during 1990–1993, which was weathered without redundancies. As the economy recovered and entered an extended boom, and the business continued to demonstrate its commercial strength, reputation and win yet further awards ("see above"), the family sold the majority of the business in stages to outside investors (25% in 1993, and much of the remainder in 1996) to gain external investment, as the business sought to consolidate and expand its market position by growing through acquisition and increase its market presence in related areas such as retail and distributorships.