The new range includes Apple’s iPhone 14, available on contract, handset and SIM-only plans, as well as a range of other popular mobile devices up to £125 when compared to buying new.

MobilePhonesDirect.com  became part of the AO group in 2019

The phones are described as an ‘As New’ standard and are said to be indistinguishable from new models. They are shipped in recyclable brown packaging with a 12-month warranty.

Scott Hooton, AO’s Mobile Director, said:

“There is a huge demand for more cost-effective options to upgrade or replace mobile phones. Consumers are still keen to keep up with the latest in technology. Our as new phone deals are between £72 and £120 over a 24-month contract cheaper than “brand new” equivalents.”

Mobile Phones Direct is currently offering “as new” Apple iPhone 13s for £30 per month with the iPhone SE available for just £16 per month with no upfront cost.

“These iPhones have been returned by customers because of potential faults but have been rebuilt to the same standard.

He takes over from group services director Paul Dawson who has has been leading mobile alongside mobile specialists in AO’s commercial, trading and supply teams.

Before that, Richard Baxendale was the MD of Mobile Phones Direct and left in December 2019. He is now executive VP, Global Sales at Likewise.

Hooton has been in the mobile industry for around 30 years. As well as leading roles in Ophones4U he held senior positions with Carphone Warehouse.

“AO and Mobile Phones Direct are now well placed to bring fantastic value, range and five star service to customers. I’m thrilled to be joining the AO team and excited to release the full potential of Mobile Phones Direct” he said.

Mobile Phones Direct does connections with Vodafone, 02 and Three alongside a full range of handsets from all major manufacturers. It was named uSwitch Reseller of the Year in 2022.

Mobile Phones Direct parent company AO World has further integrated the online retailer following the departure of ex-MPD CEO and AO Mobile managing director Richard Baxendale.

Mobile Phones Direct will continue to operate alongside AO World’s AO Mobile site, which launched last year. There will no longer be a managing director role for AO Mobile, but MPD’s Thatcham office will remain open.

Instead, specialist mobile teams headed by AO’s mobile director for trading, Anne-Marie Beardmore, and operations director for mobile, Simon Ryan, will be based there.

They will report to AO’s central executives, such as group purchasing director Paul Whyte, and operations director for group retail Vicky Monk.

“Mobile and connectivity are strategically important to AO and we saw big potential in Mobile Phones Direct which is why we acquired it in 2018,” said AO Mobile director of communications Russell Craig. “To realise the opportunity, we took the decision in February to integrate Mobile into the wider AO group instead of operating it as a separate business unit.

“With these changes in mind, there’s no Mobile MD or CEO role now with the centralised ‘one AO’ model, which means local teams benefit from shared expertise across the group.”

Earlier this year, Baxendale rejoined Brightstar as chief business development officer, having previously been at the distributor in the early 2000s.

Richard Baxendale has rejoined Brightstar as chief business development officer, having left his previous role as managing director of AO Mobile.

His remit includes overseeing global business development for Brightstar’s device protection business as well as its broader portfolio of device lifecycle services in Europe. He is also president of Brightstar’s European device protection business.

According to Companies House filings, Baxendale left his role at AO at the end of March.

Baxendale’s initial stint at the distributor occurred from 2001 to 2007, when he rose from associate sales director to business development director.

He then took on the UK and Ireland managing director role of Tech Data Mobile, a joint venture between Tech Data and Brightstar, where he became managing director for sales and then vice president of services for Europe before leaving in 2015.

After taking some time out from the industry to pursue an MBA, he became CEO of online retailer Mobile Phones Direct (MPD) in 2017. Following MPD’s acquisition by retailer AO World in 2018, Baxendale became managing director of AO’s mobile business in 2019, at a time when it experienced significant growth.

Baxendale’s appointment is Brightstar’s first major hire since it bought a majority stake in mobile repair firm WeFix, and the first since the departure of Mike Mitchinson as UK MD in February after just six months in the role.

Earlier this year, the distributor also brought in David Brassington from Tech Data as head of network operators, and Jon Charters from Sony Mobile as head of retail.

Baxendale and Brightstar have been reached for comment.

Emporia Telecom has continued its UK growth with a host of new partnerships. 

After initially building its UK presence through Eurostar Global and Amazon, the seniors-handset vendor has announced four new partnerships. 

The manufacturer has added Scotts & Co, Hearing Direct, Mobile Phones Direct and Laptops Direct to its list of partners. 

Scotts & Co stocks 10 Emporia devices through its brands Scotts of Stow and Expert Verdict, while Hearing Direct has launched the full range online. 

Emporia has also struck a partnership with online retailer MPD to range two devices, with monthly contracts available from £9.50, while Laptops Direct has a strong range of stock.

Emporia UK and Ireland MD Chris Millington has said the progress has been strong despite the coronavirus outbreak. 

“Working with key partners and retailers that are able to reach this audience has been critical in helping older users stay safe but to keep in regular contact. 

“Sales through retail partners is a key part of our growth strategy and is particularly effective in these times. Plus, we are working with outlets who serve the retiree segment particularly well,” added Millington. 

He also said that Emporia will continue to look for further partnerships as the economy rebuilds. 

Online electronics and appliances retailer AO has launched a website dedicated to its mobile offering.

The website, which has been launched today (August 8) will feature an extensive choice of handsets from a number of vendors with plans available through the big four operators.

AO Mobile is run by
Mobile Phones Direct, who originally set up as a high-street dealer
in 1992

MPD were acquired by AO
World in December last year, as the retailer identified a gap in its
wide portfolio of electronics.

AO founder and chief
executive John Roberts has hailed the launch as a “gamechanger for
customers”.

“Customers tell us
that they find buying mobile and connectivity complicated. From
today, we’re making it easy to choose what’s best for them with
easy-to-understand pricing and fantastic service.

“We can make it
cheaper because AO Mobile customers don’t have to pay for hundreds of
high-street stores with thousands of sales staff.”

Some of the deals
include the Samsung A10 on a Vodafone tariff for £24 per month, the
Huawei P30 Lite for £29 through EE, or an exclusive O2 deal for the
Samsung Galaxy S10 for £55 per month with 120GB of data.

This month AO Mobile
customers can also receive a digital reward card that comes with £250
pre-loaded to spend online at AO.com.

When Karl Borges set up his independent dealership in 1992, little did he know that it would result in a £32.5 million windfall 26 years later, when the company was acquired by online electronics and appliances retailer AO World in 2018.

Borges set up Mobile Phones Direct (MPD) as a bricks-and-mortar retailer back in 1992 after gaining experience in the telecoms industry at Nokia and then Vodafone, setting up his first store in Newbury around the corner from Vodafone’s head office.

His first break came when Nokia, market leader at the time, partnered with Borges to run its Nokia retail stores. At one point in the early 2000s, there were as many as 12 MPD-branded stores, plus some Nokia- branded ones.

The end of the transition to pure online retail came in 2011, after the Finnish giant struggled in the wake of the iPhone taking hold in a market it had previously dominated. This influenced Borges to change the dynamic of MPD, rather than continue to do battle in a competitive high street with the four main operators plus Carphone Warehouse and, at the time, Phones4U.

The Berkshire- based online retailer generated £122 million in turnover in the 12 months ending in March 2018, up from £79 million three years ago.

The takeover deal came at a time when both companies were seeking a partner – MPD to help drive the company forward and AO to move into mobile with the deal sealed on December 17.

The acquisition is a “strategically good fit”, says AO World MD Richard Baxendale, a high-flier with Brightstar and Tech Data before joining MPD two years ago as CEO.

Of Borges, he says: “Karl had been in the industry for 30 years. He realised that for the business to continue its growth, it need some external funding. More importantly, it had to be the right shareholder or partner to move the business forward.”

Baxendale says AO fulfils this need, providing MPD with the tools to power on and at the same time filling a gap in AO’s already extensive portfolio.

Strategy

“Mobile was an obvious gap in AO’s strategy and MPD has the ability to provide a comprehensive offering of mobile brands across a number of networks,” says Baxendale. “This acquisition has also given

MPD a real platform to drive its business, with AO bringing it more financial power for growth.”

Baxendale adds that the convenience of online shopping helps retailers such as MPD appeal to customers.

“Online customers have a broader choice of products, while also having the convenience of browsing whenever they choose to. Across MPD’s website, there is a combination of seven million propositions across all four networks, which is significantly more than what retail stores and the high street can offer.”

The company ranges a huge variety of devices, including models from Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Nokia, Sony, Google, OnePlus, Honor, Xiaomi, BlackBerry and Motorola across a number of pay-monthly contracts from Vodafone, EE, Three and O2.

“Operators are a key part of our business and will continue to be,” says Baxendale. “We’ll add more manufacturers who understand our business and can help drive growth, while also giving value to the operator.”

Continuity

Usually an acquisition means a change of brand and identity, but in this case the MPD brand will continue.

“Mobile Phones Direct has been built up over eight years. We’ve been able to build up a sizeable customer base that has seen us become an established online presence,” says Baxendale.

He emphasises the continuing value of the brand, which has won a number of awards – including Best Online Retailer at this year’s Mobile News Awards.

AO.com chief operating officer Danny Emmett agrees that MPD is a strong brand that is well worth keeping.

“We intend to keep that going and also , over time, establish an AO Mobile proposition that will then be available through AO.com,” he says. In line with this, a separate AO Mobile website is set to be launched later in the year.

Meanwhile, at the time of the takeover deal, AO World chief executive Steve Caunce also emphasised the strength of the MPD brand: “Mobile Phones Direct already has a leading position within the UK online mobile market and is a business which is highly complementary to AO. In coming together, AO will achieve instant scale and be well-placed for future opportunities within a highly attractive and growing UK mobile phone market.”

The good news for the 100 or so MPD employees is that the acquisition will not reduce headcount. On the contrary, the company is, in fact, looking to fill 30 extra positions.

“As our focus is to scale the business, recruiting more people seems the logical way of driving this,” says Baxendale.

As part of the takeover, AO also bought MPD sub-brand Smart Phone Company. The MPD and SPC websites together attracted 13.6 million visitors last year, two million more than in 2016. Given that sort of traffic, Baxendale is confident MPD can reach many more people online, especially with AO’s assistance.

“The strong AO brand will help customers to resonate with us more, and the wealth of experience and knowledge of AO is something that MPD can tap into.”

Customer service

He stresses the importance of customer service in the equation. While Baxendale acknowledges that the mobile industry has not always lit up the world in this area, he wants MPD to be different and offer a customer experience that sets it apart from its competitors.

And he says that the company already takes this seriously, regularly carrying out customer satisfaction surveys to see how users find the experience, whether they would use MPD again and how likely they are to recommend it. In addition, MPD monitors the success rate of its deliveries and percentage of on-time arrivals, plus how long customer issues take to resolve.

“It’s about trying to create an effortless experience that puts the customer at the heart of what we do and making their experience as simple as it needs to be.”

This is perhaps reflected in the 36,000- plus user reviews of MPD on the Trustpilot website, in which the company has received an average mark of 8.7 out of ten – with 81 per cent rating it “excellent”.

“These scores are encouraging, but I don’t want to compare MPD to other online mobile retailers,” says Baxendale. “We are not measuring ourselves against other companies in our industry. Mobile phone retail has not been synonymous with great customer experience, but we want to change that.”

Like all retailers, MPD faces challenges, says Baxendale. However, the company’s warehouse and customer-facing department use strategies such as recycling to deal with issues such as returned devices.

“Faulty returns go back to the manufacturer, while we also encounter customers that change their mind. We put the returned phone through a process that then sees it sold as a refurbished handset, so it means we’re minimising our losses.”

Naturally, all eyes at MPD are on the rollout of 5G and introduction of devices using the technology. Indeed, the revolution promised by 5G was a factor that spurred AO to break into the mobile sector – with MPD seeking to capitalise on the £1.7 billion boost to the global economy that the technology is predicted to bring.

“We know that a lot of 5G connections are predicted,” says Baxendale. “So it is about getting into a position to make sure we can deliver value for this. 5G might even help the slowing smartphone market that has become stagnant in the past few years.

“The market may not be growing as it has been previously, but we still see a huge opportunity. Currently, we still have only around five per cent of the mobile phone contract market, and that doesn’t take into account opportunities in the SIM-free and accessories areas. With AO, we see a real opportunity to drive market share.”

For now, Borges is “enjoying life”, laughs Baxendale, who says he had heard Borges was running as an MP for the Green Party in local elections in Alresford and Itchen Valley. A quick Google search confirmed this.

As for Baxendale, he is optimistic about the future for the business. “We’re at the beginning of a journey,” he says. “There’s a real momentum behind the business for MPD as it enters a new chapter, and we want to continue this success.”

Outcome of a £1 bet: the rise of AO.com from a small pub wager in 2000

AO is a Bolton-based online electronics store founded by John Roberts in 2000 initially as Appliances Online.

This came off the back of a £1 wager in the pub, when Roberts was encouraged to set up his own business by a friend who bet that he wouldn’t. Prior to this, Bolton-born Roberts was a salesman at the now defunct Moben Kitchens.

AO, which is entirely focused on online retail, sells everything from TVs and laptops to washing machines and fridges.

In its last financial results, AO announced group revenues of around £900 million in the year to the end of March, an increase of 13 per cent year-on-year (nine per cent excluding MPD). This was achieved against a backdrop of ongoing weak consumer confidence in a competitive market.

The online-only retailer currently employs more than 2,500 people across the UK and Europe, and completes millions of deliveries a year, although an exact number was not confirmed.

Honor has confirmed that the Honor 20 will arrive in the UK from June 21 following its unveiling last month.

The smartphone will be available from Three, Amazon, Mobile Phones Direct, Very and Carphone Warehouse for £399.

Customers that pre-order by June 20 will also receive a free Honor Watch Magic, that normally costs £179.99.

The Honor 20 features a 48MP AI quad camera and comes with a Kirin 980 chipset, 3,750mAh battery and a 6.26-inch all-view display with a 91.7 per cent screen-to-body ratio.

Honor unveiled the Honor 20 last month during its launch event in Battersea. 

Google has unveiled its lower cost Pixel 3a and 3a XL smartphones, with prices starting from £399. 

The Pixel 3a features an OLED display and comes in a choice of three colours – black, white and purple and is available from selected retailers and operators from May 8. 

There are two sizes, as the Pixel 3a has a 5.6-inch display, while the 3a XL has a six-inch screen and is slightly more expensive at £469. 

Both models run on the Snapdragon 670 processor, which is slightly less powerful than the 845 processor on the flagship Pixel 3 and 3 XL smartphones.

There is 4GB RAM, with 64GB of internal storage and both phones have a 12MP dual-pixel rear camera setup with features such as Portrait Mode, Super Res Zoom and Night Sight for clearer shots in low light conditions included. 

The OS is Android 9.0 Pie and includes Google Assistant with Lens and AR Core.

Google did not disclose the size of the battery but says its 18W charger can provide up to seven hours of battery life on a 15-minute charge and up to 30 on a full charge. 

Unlike the flagship Pixel 3 and 3XL models, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack included. 

Google will also provide up to three years of security and operating system updates to fend off any new security threats.

The Pixel 3a is available through Google Store, Carphone Warehouse and Curry’s PC World, EE, Argos and Mobile Phones Direct. 

Customers at Carphone Warehouse can save up to £270 when buying either device, when trading-in selected phones.

Honor has launched its latest flagship smartphone the View 20 which features an all new hole-punch All-View display.

The Chinese manufacturer officially launched the View 20 during an event in Paris and announced the smartphone will retail from £499.

The new hole-punch design has a 91.8 per cent screen to body ratio and can be purchased in one of three colours; midnight black, sapphire blue and phantom blue.

There is also a dynamic V-shape colour gradient effect on the rear of the View 20 which uses nano-lithography to create the nano-texture that Honor calls an Aurora effect.

Features

It comes equipped with a 48MP rear camera, that offers AI ultra clarity and can also take several photos at once and then collates the best details from each photo to create an image. On the front is a 25MP camera that is incorporated within the hole-punch design.

The View 20 is powered by a 7nm Kirin 980 dual NPU chipset and runs on Android 9.0 through its Magic UI 2.0.1.

Customers can choose from two variants, either a 6GB RAM and 128GB internal storage or 8GB RAM and 256GB memory with the latter costing £579.99.

Other features include a 4,000mAh battery with a SuperCharge function, fingerprint sensor and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Honor has confirmed that O2 will be ranging the View 20, with 1GB plans starting from £33.03 per month.

The phone is available to buy from a number of retailers including; Carphone Warehouse, JLP, AO, Argos, Amazon, Buy Mobiles, Go Mobile, Mobile Phones Direct, Tesco Mobile and Very.