Andys Records

Andys Records was a UK music retailer that traded from 1969 to 2003. Based in Bury St. Edmunds, its roots were in nearby Felixstowe and Cambridge.

Andy Gray started selling second-hand jukebox 45s and old 78 rpm records on Felixstowe pier in 1969 and within five years had acquired a stall on Cambridge market. The market stall was successful, and in 1976 Gray opened his first retail shop in Mill Road, Cambridge. Initially, Andys was well known for undercutting competitors by importing records from Europe at a bargain price and then passing the savings on to customers. The chain's expansion was slow and steady, and by the early 1980s, the company had 12 stores across the east of England with two shops in Cambridge and others in Bury St. Edmunds, King's Lynn, Peterborough, Haverhill, Colchester, Bedford, Lowestoft, Norwich and Ipswich.

By 1983 the company was trading as Andys Records & Video, capitalising on the success of home video and the VHS and Betamax war. Gray listed the chain as a limited company, AHG Records. By this time, Gray's brother William (known as Billy) had become marketing director. Early advertising was often humorous and sometimes self-deprecating e.g. "Purveyors of fine music at cheapo prices". The company slogan around this time was "Possibly the greatest music stores in the world". This was replaced in the early 90s by "Where music matters" and again later on by "Where music REALLY matters".

The company, buoyed by the relatively new formats of VHS and CD, started to aggressively expand out of the Anglia region. Deciding that southern England was too expensive, the Gray brothers concentrated on opening stores in the Midlands and northern England. By the late 80s to early 90s, Andys Records was fast becoming a well-known name on the UK high street. It became the UK's largest independent music retailer in 1992, a title it retained for 10 years.

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