Online electricals retailer AO has acquired Jessops, the specialist photography retailer owned by Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones CBE.
The acquisition comes just a month after the Bolton-based eCommerce business launched AO Mobile, promising ‘no gimmicks’ and plans from as little as £12 a month.
Now the business, which was launched by John Roberts in 2000 on the back of a £1 bet, has expanded into photography with the acquisition of Jessops.
The deal supports AO’s strategy of expanding into adjacent categories and also includes Jessops’ recommerce business Camera Jungle.
Mark Higgins, group CFO and COO at AO World, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Jessops to the AO family.
“This acquisition, announced in our HY27 pre-close trading update, is funded from existing cash, adds a complimentary category to AO’s 9500 plus range of electricals from trusted brand with a loyal customer base and specialist expertise in cameras and optical technology.
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“Its recommerce business, Camera Jungle, sits naturally alongside musicMagpie and strengthens our circular economy credentials.”
Founder John Roberts said: “We’ve carried our momentum into the new financial year with continued growth against a sluggish backdrop in the wider UK retail sector.
“Group revenue is up over 5 per cent, profit is up more than 20 per cent and cash generation remains strong. We have given over £29m of discounts to our members in the period, which is further proof that our shared economics model is doing exactly what it’s built to do.
“It has been a busy first half of the year as we both buy and build more category capability, give more reasons to be an AO member and continue to build growth engines for the future.
“To that end I am delighted to welcome Jessops into the AO family and look forward to growing the existing business as well as integrating the category into the wider AO business.
“Our plan is clear and we will keep delivering on it. We are firmly on our path to over 5 per cent PBT margin as our next milestone and have clear growth and efficiency initiatives to make that happen. We will do this while continuing to share more of our scale economies with our members.
“Our service quality in the period hasn’t flickered despite a very challenging summer for our delivery teams in the heat and I would like to extend my thanks to them for their commitment to our customers.
“Maintaining our world-class Trustpilot score of 4.9 out of 5 on over a million reviews does not happen by accident. It is a company-wide obsession and one we never take for granted.
“There continues to be a lot of uncertainty in the world but we look forward to heading into peak trading with confidence and momentum behind us.”