Jessops
 |
|
| Private limited company | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | Leicester, United Kingdom (1935) |
| Founder | Frank Jessop |
| Headquarters | Marlow, United Kingdom |
|
Number of locations
|
56 (2016) |
|
Area served
|
United Kingdom |
|
Key people
|
Neil Old (Chief Executive Officer) |
| Products | Photographic equipment Photograph processing |
| Revenue | £236.8 million (2011) |
| £5.7 million (2011) | |
| Owner | Peter Jones |
| Website | www |
Jessops Europe Limited is a British photographic retailing company. It was established in Leicester in 1935, by Frank Jessop, and traded under the name of The Jessop Group Limited.
The business entered administration on 9 January 2013, and all 187 Jessops retail stores ceased trading on 11 January 2013, until the British entrepreneur Peter Jones CBE invested several million pounds into the company, and formed Jessops Europe Limited.
On 28 March 2013, six stores reopened, and Jones aimed to open a new store every day on average during April 2013. The relaunch of the Oxford Street store in London received considerable media interest, and was attended by several celebrities, including the actor James Corden. As of April 2016, there are now fifty two stores of Jessops, and since July 2014, Sainsbury's has started rolling out Jessops branches in its larger stores.
Frank Jessop founded "Jessop of Leicester" in 1935, as a specialist photographic retailer. The company expanded to major towns and cities. In July 1996, Alan Jessop, Frank's son, sold the firm in a management buy out. This was to Bridgepoint Capital. The two hundredth store, Durham, opened in July 2001.
In September 2000, Bridgepoint Capital attempted to float Jessops on the London Stock Exchange, but abandoned plans the following month. This was because it was told the firm would list with a market value of £90 million to £100 million. In April 2002, Jessops again abandoned plans to float.
In September 2002, ABN Amro paid £116 million for the company. The sale was completed the next month. In October 2004, ABN Amro applied to float on the , which successfully occurred the next month. In May 2004, the main warehouse relocated to Weedon Bec, Northamptonshire, as the warehouse in Leicester was considered too small. This resulted in most of the staff being made redundant.
In 2007, the company suffered financial difficulties requiring a strategic review, and eventually leading to a re financing with its bankers, HSBC, in September 2009. This led to the group's trade being transferred to a new holding company, Snap Equity Limited, whilst Jessops plc was placed in liquidation and the group's final salary pension scheme transferred to the Pension Protection Fund.
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Wikipedia