Jessops

This article is about the British photographic retailer. For the department store, Jessops of Nottingham, see John Lewis (department store).

Jessops plc

Type	Private
Industry	Retail
Founded	1935
Headquarters	Leicester (HQ)
Key people	CEO: Trevor Moore Chairman: David Adams
Products	Photographic Equipment
Revenue	£301 million turnover GBP (15mths to 31 Dec 2009)
Employees	1,227 (31 Dec 2009)
Website	www.jessops.com

Jessops is the United Kingdom's largest specialist photographic retailer, with over 200 shops across the country. Many branches contain mini-labs that can offer one hour processing or even a 25 minute express service.

History

Frank Jessop opened "Jessop of Leicester" in 1935, as a specialist photographic retailer. The company expanded to major towns and cities. The 200th store opened in July 2001. The Jessops Mail-order catalog is available free from the stores and is usually released quarterly.

Alan Jessop, Frank's son, sold the firm in 1996 in a management buy-out. ABN AMRO paid £116m for the company in 2002, and then floated the company on the London Stock Exchange in October 2004, listed as LSE: JSP.

Financial problems

In 2007 the company suffered financial difficulties resulting in a strategic review and eventually leading to a re-financing with its bankers, HSBC, in September 2009. This resulted in 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

Snap Equity

"'Snap Equity Limited, a private company, was formed in 2009 and is 47% owned by HSBC, 33% owned by pension trustees and 20% by an employee trust. The Group's Head Office is at Jessop House, 98 Scudamore Road, Leicester LE3 1TZ.

References

• Investors in Jessops should focus on the risk The Independent, 10 April 2007
• Profits alert as Jessops digicam sales slump The Guardian - March 21, 2005

External links

• Official website