Mozillion’s new CashLab service collects sellers’ phones, tests them at a new diagnostic centre in Central London, and pays by direct transfer within three hours. This week Mozillion reports it paid £703 for an as-new iPhone 14 Pro 128GB which would have fetched £545 as a trade-in and that the seller had their money in two hours.

“Sellers don’t need to move from their sofa or desk. We release their cash the second their phone passes our checks,” said Mozillion CEO Len Leeson.

“Our diagnostics deliver a forensic 90-point check for visual condition genuine parts, performance and battery health in minutes, We also check against the major lost and stolen databases. We’re only interested in verified, high-quality phones – and our sellers get market-leading prices in return.”

As well as selling their devices to Mozillion, Londoners can purchase a mint phone from Mozillion delivered by courier within two hours.

“In fact, you can sell and buy simultaneously, get far better prices, and let Mozillion do all the running around”, Leeson added.

Mozillion launched its service a year ago with a plan to be the first and only dedicated online marketplace for buying and selling new and pre-owned mobile phones providing live market prices. It claimed to have 25,000 members signed up to the site by December,

Sales and marketing director James Francis said: “Mozillion has been created to help both buyers and sellers get more value from preowned and refurbished phones.”

]]> https://mobilenewscwp.co.uk/news/article/mozillion-new-cashlab-service-offers-london-iphone-sellers-near-instant-payment/feed/ 0 https://mobilenewscwp.co.uk/news/article/twelfth-sim-local-airport-store-takes-off-vienna/ https://mobilenewscwp.co.uk/news/article/twelfth-sim-local-airport-store-takes-off-vienna/#respond Fri, 19 May 2023 12:16:29 +0000 https://mncwp.tailrd.cloud/twelfth-sim-local-airport-store-takes-off-vienna/ Sim Local, which clams to be the largest seller of SIM cards in the UK travel market, has opened its newest store at Vienna Airport. The store is Sim Local’s 12th, and will provide a choice of local SIM cards from Vienna networks eety, Drei (Three) and Lyca to international travellers and a range of

Sim Local, which clams to be the largest seller of SIM cards in the UK travel market, has opened its newest store at Vienna Airport.

The store is Sim Local’s 12th, and will provide a choice of local SIM cards from Vienna networks eety, Drei (Three) and Lyca to international travellers and a range of branded accessories.

Ian Rankin, Chief Commercial Officer, Sim Local said:“ Our retail footprint is continually growing, and we are delighted to be working with Vienna Airport. We’re also extending our global partnership with Lyca and cementing our Hutchinson 3G relationship by carrying their products in this new location.”  

 Philipp Ahrens, Senior Vice President Center Management at Vienna Airport added:  “Extending our retail offering to include their local SIM cards will be valued by the international travellers arriving in Vienna.”

Other Sim Local stores are in Athens International airport and Brussels.. Sim Local also operates a network of vending machines in European airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Brussels, Dublin and Copenhagen and works with affiliate partners such as WHSmith and InMotion in airports.

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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.

Seamless mobile connectivity is vital in the retail space as consumer expectations of connectivity in stores rises says Stuart Waine of mobile soltions .provider Spry Fox Networks

Digital transformation is impacting all industries. None more so than retail. Since Covid-19, well-known brands have overhauled their business models and embraced online trading, consumer expectations for multichannel interactions and the In-App revolution. Changing consumer behaviour patterns are driving retail digital transformation and why seamless mobile and broadband connectivity are integral to the process

The UK now has the third largest e-commerce market globally. This is predicted to reach a transaction value of over £260 billion by 2025. However, even though these new shopping trends are here to stay, brick and mortar transactions are still hugely important for retailers, More than 80 per cent of purchases still made in store according to a recent Forbes study.

 Shopping malls may well be bustling once again. but retailers are having to work harder than ever to get sales, particularly the higher-value items. Interaction with third party technologies is key to the process. Moreover, modern retailing involves more than having stock, compelling deals, and guiding shoppers through different departments to the checkouts.

Staff need an effective means of replenishing stock and quickly locating best-selling items or merchants will lose out on spontaneous purchases. Central to this is the ability to communicate with colleagues and to have a hierarchical view of companywide stock levels. But, with the industry facing staff shortages. meeting consumer expectations is no mean feat.

This is where digital transformation and seamless mobile connectivity comes into their own. By embracing technologies such as warehouse picking robots, automated inventory management tools or cashier-less payments, powered by 5G and/or superfast broadband, retailers can overcome many of these pain points, thus empowering their available workforce to work smarter not harder whilst boosting productivity and profitability. 

All purchases involve mobile interactions

In-store experience is as important as stock control and logistics. Shoppers are influenced by their peers and social media. More than 40 per cent of them use their phone for in store price comparisons before making that final purchase. Around 65 per cent have retail apps on their phones. There are heightened expectations for consistent interactions, uninterrupted mobile connectivity, and timely and accurate responses from staff. If consumers are obliged to leave a store to access the internet chances are they won’t come back.

Implementing a store-wide Wi-Fi network is not sufficient. Retailers have to contend with tighter consumer lending rules. All financial agreements and assessments must be undertaken online. A one-time authentication code must be generated. The intention is to offer fairness to consumers whilst reducing risks of fraud. The delivery mechanism for passcodes, however, is SMS/MMS and not Wi-Fi . This is because of the universal availability and greater security of SMS/MMS

Apart from being integral to consumer lending, seamless mobile connectivity takes centre stage in any digital transformation project because shoppers expect wow factor experiences in-store. They want to interact with technologies and be informed by compelling visual content and receive discount codes redeemable at checkout. Stores failing to deliver these experiences could lose out to those that can.

Smart technologies are becoming more prevalent

Seamless mobile coverage is a driving force behind smart building applications. It t is the trigger mechanism for device2device connectivity. Temperature control sensors, for example, are being increasingly installed to reduce energy consumption. Motion sensor allow retailers to better understand foot flow.

Ensuring seamless mobile connectivity in stores has always been challenging due to shop fit-outs, basement locations and the abundance of glass and metal which are the mobile signal blockers. The outside signal must be taken indoors using equipment such as mobile signal boosters. This has been a complex process shrouded in strict licensing regulation. There has been a relaxation in the rule and providing the level of coverage needed is no longer an arduous task as long as you tick the regulatory boxes.

Retailers have had to confront numerous challenges. The cost-of-living and energy crises are again putting the industry under pressure. The situation will get worse before it gets better. retailers need to embrace digital transformation simply to maintain the bottom line and reliable mobile coverage is central to this.

Spry Fox Networks supplies mobile coverage and network technologies to enhance commercial mobile and public safety communications.

Crewe-based refurbished device reseller UR.co.uk is offering free insurance with every mobile phone sold up to the end of December. 

The offer is reckoned to be worth £95.88 a year based on the premium for a handset worth more than £401. 

The initiative came from a spontaneous ideas exchange at the Mobile News Awards between UR chief executive officer Barry Poke and Bastion Insurance Services director of sales John Fannon.

Bastion is administering the 12-month policies that cover every UR customer in the UK over 18 years old for device theft, accidental loss, accidental damage, mechanical breakdown, unlimited overseas cover and unauthorised calls and £150 for accessories. Buyers also get a free package of bio-degradable case, 20w charger and cable, glass screen protector and cleaning cloth. These are estimated to have a combined value of £45”

“Customers don’t need to fill out any paperwork. All they do is choose their device and free insurance will automatically be added to their order at checkout regardless of age, grade or price. Customers get a welcome pack containing details of the cover provided and what to do in the event of a claim”, said UR chief executive Barry Poke.

“We want to encourage people to stay with us for years. We hope they will return their device and select an upgraded model from us. The phone refurbishment market is growing due to the rising prices of new devices. People realise there is value in trading their old phones which helps to offset the price of buying another one.

John Fannon said:

“This new offer means every UR customer has a complete solution wrapped around their purchase, as well as incredible value for money. We’re delighted to be partnering with UR on this ground-breaking initiative, which is a first for the sector. It demonstrates the creativity of the UR team and its customer-care ethos. It’s clear that customer experience and support are the priority at UR”.

UR was set up in 2010 and deals in refurbished iPhones, Apple tablets, and Samsung phones. More than 250,000 phones have been processed and resold by the company

For more than 20 years, ArmaFone has been working across East Anglia offering a range of repairs and mobile-related products and services, expanding over time to serve a range of customers.

Starting out as part of B2B dealer TMAC Wireless Solutions in 2001, the company originally served business customers as technology was advancing and becoming more expensive and fragile as Nokia phones began to fall out of fashion.

The company then branched out into the consumer segment in 2013, offering repairs, accessories, screen protection and a callout option to residents in East Anglia.

ArmaFone managing director Chris Everitt says the company decided to try out the consumer side, as there was a big opportunity to reach a wider audience.

However, he adds that business customers still make up a large portion of the customer base, attracted by the option to have an account with priority repairs and
monthly invoicing.

Meeting needs

In recent years, Everitt says consumer demand has been growing and so the company needed a better way to serve its customers.

In 2018, the firm therefore moved from the high street in Ipswich to an Asda store in the same town– believing it could gain more traction within a popular supermarket.

More supermarket points of presence were planned from as early as 2019, but COVID halted this.

Then, when ArmaFone came back to the idea, it kept the supermarket idea but with a
slight change in approach.

This began in July 2022, when ArmaFone launched its first TechPOD at a Sainsbury’s store in the Stanway area of Colchester, Essex.

Rather than being inside the supermarket, the concept is that this is a separate store just outside that gives the firm more of a clear presence in providing accessible tech repair services.

“As we learned more about the specifics of the grocery-sector concession landscape, we realised that we needed an alternative to internal space if we were going to achieve
our strategic and geographic goals.”

Everitt saying that a further two TechPODs are in development in partnership with
the supermarket retailer in as-yet-undisclosed locations, and are set to open in the
autumn and winter.

“We think the units are really eye-catching,” he says. “The presence of an ArmaFone TechPOD on a Sainsbury’s site is designed to add value to regular supermarket visits.”

Everitt says that while ArmaFone’s current focus is on landing TechPODs with Sainsbury’s, it is also in discussions with several other big supermarket brands on the same concept, as well as a number of retail-park operators.

Everitt says ArmaFone is also planning to potentially have supermarket-based repair points that will have callout, pick-up and drop-off support.

“I think the ideal ratio between physical locations and vehicle support will become more apparent over the next 12 months,” he says.

In another move, ArmaFone this spring debuted an academy offering a qualification
in tech repair.

Under this, Everitt says apprentices can take IT courses and accompany technicians in one of ArmaFone’s supermarket locations or a callout vehicle to gain experience.

“Since we launched the academy in April, we’ve been busy training the staff of a retail chain as part of its plans to offer tech repair,” he says.

“The results have been great and the feedback we’ve received is better than we
could have hoped for.”

ArmaFone is now expanding its courses and their content to ensure that technicians
are well-equipped to meet industry standards.

Everitt says ArmaFone will continue to focus on the training academy and keep growing the TechPODs with Sainsbury’s.

Apple Repairs

As for its other aims in 2022, the next big thing for ArmaFone is its plan to secure Apple independent repair provider (IPR) verification, enabling it to offer repair providers
access to genuine Apple parts, tools, repair manuals and diagnostics.

“This will further underpin our quality ethos and our credibility, as well as giving our customers additional options for repairing Apple devices,” he says.

“In addition, we are soon going to be launching the last core module of our own in-house software to manage our end-to-end workflow across retail, B2B and callout channels.”

Everitt says he is also busy organising more projects for 2023, and that he sees
a bright future for the firm over the next few years.

“I’m confident that given the opportunity, ArmaFone could become a nationally
recognisable brand,” he says.

Vodafone was scared that EE would drop Phones 4U leaving Vodafone as the retailer’s sole network and weakening its negotiating position with Carphone Warehouse, the High Court of Justice Business and Property Court heard on Day 20 of the Phones4U case against the mobile network operators. 

“ Had EE pulled out of Phones 4u before we did, we would have been the last operator trading in Phones 4U. EE had twice as much volume in Phones 4U as we did. We were about a third of their volume, EE was about two-thirds of their volume”, Cindy Rose who was managing director of Vodafone’s consumer division at the time told a court last week.

Rose is now president of Microsoft for Western Europe. She was giving evidence in the case brought by Phones 4U In Administration against Vodafone, EE, Orange, Telefonica, and Deutsche Telekom.

The administrators of Phones 4U allege that the networks all colluded to push the retailer into administration. Phones4U went bust in September 2014 with the loss of 5,000 jobs after EE and Vodafone were the final two networks to terminate their agreements with Phones 4U

Rose said if EE had pulled to (which it did)  “they (Phones 4U) would have been very wounded at that stage and struggling. We would have had little to no negotiating leverage with Carphone Warehouse. For us, that scenario would have been disastrous which is why we were so intent on moving quickly and seizing first-mover advantage.

‘It’s also why it was completely not in our interest to coordinate in any way with anybody. Apart from it being clearly unlawful, it wasn’t in our interests to do so, because we would have not been able to seize the first-mover advantage. So that was the scenario that scared me the most”.

The Mobile News Awards was mentioned in evidence when Phil Roberson, Vodafone’s head of indirect distribution between 2014 and 2017 was asked how he knew about EE boss Olaf Swantee’s view of some things. Roberson now runs a business consultancy called Kid-A which has an accessories contract with Vodafone. 

Phones4U QC barrister Mr Owain Draper asked Roberson:

“ You didn’t know Mr Swantee personally, did you? So how did you gain insight into Mr Swantee’s feelings? You mention in your statement that Mr (Noel) Hamill (EE partnerships director) was a contact of yours. Did you get this information from him”?

Roberson replied:

“No. I don’t speak to people at EE on a day-to-day basis to find out what they’re doing. I didn’t speak to people at EE on a day-to-day basis. I wouldn’t know anybody who would have this information

“ So do you agree that directly or indirectly the information must have come from someone within EE close to Mr Swantee?

“ No, it could be a general flavour of something I’ve heard from somebody within Vodafone. It could have come from anywhere.

“You mention in your statement that Mr Hamill of EE was a contact of yours. Did you get this information from him”.

“No, in my statement I mentioned I was sat next to Mr Hamill at the Mobile News Awards in March”.

The case continues

]]> https://mobilenewscwp.co.uk/digital-editions/article/vodafone-scared-ee-terminate-phones-4u-contract/feed/ 0 https://mobilenewscwp.co.uk/features/article/repair-firms-strive-quick-fix-missing-parts-shaped-holes/ https://mobilenewscwp.co.uk/features/article/repair-firms-strive-quick-fix-missing-parts-shaped-holes/#respond Thu, 29 Jul 2021 13:04:21 +0000 https://mncwp.tailrd.cloud/repair-firms-strive-quick-fix-missing-parts-shaped-holes/ The repairs market has grown in recent years, but how have firms coped with the pandemic and parts shortages?

The repairs market has grown in recent years, but how have firms coped with the pandemic and parts shortages?

A segment of the mobile industry that has seen significant growth in recent years is the repair market.

With many people holding onto their phones for longer or choosing a refurbished handset to save on increasingly high costs for brand new devices, this has played into the hands of mobile repair firms.

The global refurbished market saw healthy growth in the second half of last year, according to Counterpoint Research – though more modest growth of four per cent year-on-year over the whole of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A higher increase is expected in 2021.

I’ve seen how big a market this is first- hand on LinkedIn, where I regularly see representatives of repair firms advertising their inventory of parts and services.

But like many other areas of the tech industry, this sector has experienced issues born out of the pandemic.

In general, industry players report that they have been able to ride the storm, but the interplay of COVID-19 with a wider parts shortage caused by other factors is having an ongoing impact.

Yet this level of disruption appears to differ for a number of businesses that Mobile News spoke with.

Lasting impact

The impact on the industry was already noticeable when the pandemic began to spread worldwide last March and has continued, says Mobio Distribution founder and director Josh Harrison.

Some of the key effects have been on the availability and cost of parts, he says.

“The pandemic has impacted our access to obtaining parts. Initially, at the beginning of the pandemic, access to them was almost completely gone,” says Harrison.

“As China locked down and closed all the factories, any stock that was available jumped in price and it became a bit of a rush to access whatever had been manufactured.” And Harrison observes that these issues are still prominent now. “Prices have never reset down to what they were before the pandemic,” he says. “We’re finding that we’re still paying between 10 to 30 per cent more for all of these products.”

He adds that certain parts have been going out of stock a lot quicker than usual, including screens for popular iPhones.

Harrison says, however, that Mobio has been able to navigate the pandemic to get stock in regularly, even if it’s not necessarily from the usual suppliers.

“I’d say our business has been fine overall, as we’ve been active and able to keep in contact with our sources in China,” he says. “We’ve made sure we’re getting stock from somewhere, even if it’s not from our main source. We’ve been able to pull in stock about 95 per cent of the time.”

But one worry he has had concerns consistency in the quality of parts coming in. “There’s been an inconsistency in quality

during the pandemic,” he says. “Prior to it, the factories would nearly always be using high-quality components no matter what, but now we’re seeing component shortages and this has led to lesser-quality stock from cheaper resources.”

Unfazed

Not all businesses say that access to parts has been a significant issue though. iSmash founder Julian Shovlin says he is not particularly fazed by any parts shortages, despite periods in which availability has been low.

“We’ve had fairly consistent access to parts and haven’t struggled to obtain anything in particular,” says Shovlin. “We air-freight the bulk of our parts in from China, so whilst rising freight costs have impacted our bottom line, we’ve not been too heavily affected by supply problems.”

The mobile repair shop chain has a number of walk-in locations across the UK and was even able to strike a lucrative deal with British broadcasting and telco giant Sky last October during the COVID chaos.

The deal sees iSmash operate its own repair services within selected Sky stores, after Sky entered the high street last year.

After initially opening in one store in Liverpool, iSmash has added other locations this year in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Bristol and Cardiff, with more set to come in the second half of 2021.

“We are working with Sky to see how we can further collaborate,” says Shovlin, adding that the business has succeeded so far.

At another repair company, Ultimo Electronics, managing director Josh Hannan also says business has been largely unaffected.

Challenges

But that’s not to say it’s been totally plain sailing for those two businesses, with access to some Apple parts providing Hannan with a headache.

He says one of the biggest issues has been the reduction in sales value of some iPhones due to the need to replace smashed glass on the back of the phone with glass that doesn’t carry a logo.

Hannan cites another challenge in Apple’s use of components that are hard to replace with non-Apple parts. This has led to customers opting to have their devices repaired by the vendor itself to avoid any error messages or incompatibility issues.

It will be interesting to see how the ‘right- to-repair’ movement, which is aiming to open up wider accessibility to OEM parts to third-party companies, develops over the coming year.

Meanwhile, iSmash was affected during the pandemic when its walk-in centres were forced to close. These locations, where much of the firm’s business is carried out, are usually in busy areas such as shopping centres, train stations and areas where offices are located.

“I guess most of our repairs come through our walk-in service centres,” says Shovlin. “We’re heavily reliant on customers coming in to get repairs done this way. This meant we did suffer due to restrictions limiting footfall.”

But he thinks the firm has been affected no more than any other retailer during the pandemic and has also been able to adapt through its ‘collect and deliver’ service.

Launched last November, the service operates out of the busiest iSmash locations through a logistics partner that collects the customer’s device via a courier after the service is booked online, then iSmash repairs it and the device is dropped back to them the same day.

“The service has been relatively popular,” says Shovlin. “People still needed to get their devices fixed during lockdown and we continue to operate this service now.

“But it will be interesting to see how this changes now that people are beginning to come back to our repair centres. It is, though, a service that we intend to keep.”

WeFix bookings

One business that has thrived through the pandemic is the ‘we come to you’ repair service WeFix.

The Samsung-accredited service, which was acquired by distributor Brightstar last year, covers more than 90 per cent of the UK population and supports repairs for both smartphones and tablets.

And the company reported that its repair bookings surged by 76 per cent last year, with WeFix also growing its fleet of mobile workshops.

“We have been one of the companies who have benefited hugely from the pandemic,” said WeFix chief commercial officer Neil Spanwick.

“Obviously we are all heavily reliant upon our devices these days and with people working remotely, they don’t have the same support infrastructure that they may have had before.

“So we invested heavily and quickly, ramping up capacity to ensure we could meet the inevitable surge in demand and introducing appropriate safety measures to ensure a contactless and sanitised doorstep repair process.”

Despite the country gradually easing restrictions from this April and more people returning to offices, Spanwick says that demand has shown no signs of slowing down.

He adds that awareness of the service has grown during the pandemic, with customers finding the lack of waiting around convenient.

“The biggest transformation is the number of new customers who are contacting us,” says Spanwick. “Awareness of our service has grown as a result of word-of-mouth endorsement, so we are seeing many new customers from referrals. This is particularly encouraging, as it shows that we are exceeding customer’s expectations.

“Because our mobile workshops are kitted out with the same technology as a dedicated workshop, there really isn’t much we can’t do on our customers’ doorsteps.”

Spanwick acknowledges, however, that WeFix has had to deal with the hurdle of parts shortages during the pandemic too, even though he says this has not been too big a problem.

“Given the impact of the pandemic on global supply chains across hundreds of industries, there have naturally been challenges – nothing which is insurmountable, though, with good planning.

“We operate a robust and highly efficient supply chain, which means the right parts are available to our engineers when they need them.”

Chipset shortages

Another big concern in the repair market globally relates to chipsets, which have been running short during the pandemic for a number of reasons.

These include a severe drought in Taiwan, the closure of factories in the early stages of COVID-19 and an unexpectedly resilient smartphone market, with demand for electronics surging in the last 18 months.

Mobio Distribution for one has noticed the pinch on chipset shortages, says Harrison, adding that costs have soared as a result.

“Factories are paying so much for their raw materials right now, especially for the chipsets with the price going up and up,” he says.

Hannan also cited this as an issue, but says Ultimo Electronics has been able to get round it partly because its core focus is more on displays rather than chipsets.

WeFix also saw the impact of chip shortages, but only briefly, says Spanwick. “Some lines have been slightly affected for a short period of time, which has had some impact on repair lead times, but we invested in increased stock levels as we weren’t going to allow our service levels to drop,” he says.

iPad fixes

In terms of general trends in this market segment during the pandemic, Shovlin noticed a rise in iPad repairs – which he thinks was influenced by home-schooling and remote working.

“There was definitely a period over the last 12 months where iPad repairs were much more popular, potentially linked to children being home-schooled,” he says. “We definitely noticed more tablet repairs being booked in.”

Meanwhile, Harrison notes a shift in the types of repairs carried out during lockdowns.

Harrison said: “There were less repairs for screen damage, I think mainly because people have been locked in their houses.

“People aren’t going out and dropping their phones in the street on a night out, but we certainly did see a big rise in such incidents immediately after restrictions were lifted. I’ve heard the same from other repairers.”

Looking ahead, Harrison expects it to be a while before prices for parts go back to pre-pandemic levels and anticipates that the chip shortage will last for some time yet too.

“Everything we’ve heard suggests it’s going to be quite a long time before repair parts get cheaper again,” he says. “As a result, repairs will be more expensive on the high street.

“I’m also a little bit worried about what happens when people run out of money, because obviously savings levels have been at an all-time high during the pandemic as people haven’t been spending money on luxuries.”

Shovlin, however, is optimistic about the potential for further expanding the iSmash footprint across the UK, calling the property market more ‘tenant friendly’ in terms of finding locations as some others take a step back from the high street.

“It’s been one of the positive outcomes of the pandemic for a company that would like to grow its physical presence,” says Shovlin.

“We’re seeing a number of other sectors where companies want to reduce their high- street presence and focus online instead, but for us we want to increase and strengthen our direct services.

“People still want a walk-in service and to get their repairs done within an hour.”

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It’s not often that a 25-year-old NEC office equipment salesman virtually invents an entirely new industry, then goes on to become one of the world’s leading giga-rich entrepreneurs.

Especially when he gave his company a daft name (it wasn’t a warehouse and they didn’t sell only car phones) and had an ex-inmate of Her Majesty’s Prison Service as a key advisor.

But the late 1980s were full of optimism, the mobile industry was in its infancy and the opportunities were there for anyone able to grasp the potential of mobile comms.

Charles Dunstone was then a salesman at NEC flogging photocopiers and office equipment to local businesses. But NEC made another product that caught his eye – mobile phones. Well, not so much mobile as the size of a small fax machine and only able to make and receive calls inside the M25.

But they were like objects from an advanced alien civilisation compared with the old System 4 car phones that were only affordable to captains of industry who had to wait years for a line to become free.

Unlike photocopiers, they had to be connected to something called a mobile network, and you could only get a contract to use it from another organisation called an ‘airtime provider’.

There were two of these networks. One was called Cellnet, a joint venture between BT and Securicor. The other mobile operator licence had been given to a consortium formed by some ex-British Amy signals corps boffins and Racal, which produced military-grade comms equipment.

The licence application promised phones that could support voice and data, so the consortium was called Racal Vodaphone (voice and data).

The Saatchi & Saatchi ad agency suggested substituting ‘f’ for ‘ph’, resulting in ‘Vodafone’. Marketing manager Terry Barwick had enjoyed a pleasant liquid lunch with the agency whizz kids and nodded his assent. Thus was conceived ‘Vodafone’, which for years no one could correctly spell.

The newfangled Cellnet and Vodafone mobile phones could only be purchased or leased. Mobile dealers were staffed by sharp-suited young men long on patter and short on service (think The Apprentice auditions). The average consumer would no more visit a mobile phone dealer than fly to the moon.

The stage was thus set for anyone who could see that mobile phones were useful to normal people and would probably appreciate buying them from other normal people.

So the NEC photocopier salesman saw the opportunity for revolution. With two friends, a £6,000 family loan and the mentoring of Sir Ernest Saunders, the trio of Charles Dunstone, his Uppingham schoolfriend David Ross and his NEC colleague Guy Johnson started selling car phones from a small central London flat.

Mentor

An ex-head of Guinness, Sir Ernest understood marketing – and he also knew what happened when you upset The Establishment. He is now better known as one of the ‘Guinness Four’, a group of businessmen convicted of manipulating the Guinness share price.

Sir Ernest got five years’ imprisonment but was released after 10 months when it was believed he was suffering from Alzheimer’s. Fortunately, his Alzheimer’s was no barrier to giving Messrs Dunstone, Ross and Johnson some great advice on how to build a brand and the importance of quality advertising.

Recalled Dunstone: “We were young guys who didn’t know what we were doing. He made us think about the questions we ought to ask or the information we ought to look at.”

They couldn’t be seen to be selling phones from a flat: a ‘Warehouse’ conveyed an image of a company with experience of mobile phone retail.

Capital Radio listeners were soon being earwormed by top DJ Mike Smith (RIP) extolling the virtues of The Carphone Warehouse. A store in Marylebone Road was opened, staffed by friends of friends of the founders able to engage with walk-in customers without making them feel like they were about to be ripped off.

The Dunstone formula

Dunstone’s formula was to sell mobile tech as if the business were selling shoes. Fortune and fame followed, with Dunstone’s trick being to cultivate ‘independent’ positioning. He cleverly pushed Carphone Warehouse as the only place where you could get independent advice when buying a mobile, even though the reality was that the business was funded by commissions from mobile operators offering big incentives to favour one over another.

He also earned a reputation as a tough negotiator in an industry overflowing with tough negotiators: there was often (figurative) blood on the walls when he came out of a meeting with the network operators. One of his biggest coups was securing a deal for the first iPhone in 2007. Apple had signed an exclusive agreement with O2 and there was a real risk that Carphone Warehouse could miss out on the product of a generation.

Dunstone’s involvement was undoubtedly the key to securing the deal, due in no small part to the way he charmed the mercurial Steve Jobs.

Peak time

The iPhone deal coincided with Carphone Warehouse becoming part of the FTSE 100. This period can now be seen as the pinnacle of the company’s success at a time when it had already become a multibillion-pound business. But all things must pass.

So what is Charles Dunstone’s legacy to the mobile industry, as Dixons Carphone confirmed it will rebrand all its stores as Currys by October?

Stuart Henry, who had extensive dealings with The Carphone Warehouse in the 1990s when he was an Orange sales chief, says: “The team that Charles put together from the late 90s transformed the UK mobile industry. It was largely responsible for the massive growth in subscriber numbers. Whilst others tried to bully networks and manufacturers, Charles focused on building relationships.

“That didn’t mean things were always easy. The CPW team was extremely demanding and they played us all off against each other. The difference was that when we conflicted with CPW, we wanted to find a workable solution.

“CPW was essential when networks wanted subscriber growth and market share above everything else. But when we at Orange wanted to protect our bases, the game changed. I think Charles got out of the market at exactly the right time.”

Caudwell

Phones 4U founder and rival John Caudwell said Dunstone leaving the comms business was the ‘end of an era’. On LinkedIn, he told his followers: “Phones 4U and Carphone Warehouse went head- to-head to dominate the mobile phone retail market, becoming the biggest brands on the High Street for many years. And though we were fierce rivals, Charles and I also became friends. So I appreciate how he will be feeling now.”

Eurostar Global’s head of commercial and vendor management Steve Hankey agrees that Dunstone’s departure is significant.

“Phones 4U and CPW were once specialist giants. That speciality of focusing on just one market eventually went from being a key strength to a weakness, as the bricks- and-mortar retail space continued to change.”

Frank Masson, T-Mobile’s head of dealer and distributor sales in the 1990s, recalls: “The Carphone Warehouse team was very demanding, but very much from the consumer perspective driving exclusive deals, content, trendy colours… There was a ‘dare to be different’ approach from Charles and his team. During the early 2000s, CPW was instrumental in driving quality connections and brand share for the new T-Mobile brand.”

Tony Jeffery worked directly for Dunstone, running Carphone Warehouse’s trading division.

“When people heard the name Carphone Warehouse, they thought of a consumer- driven retailer that was innovative and provided great customer service as a retail proposition,” he says.

“Everyone understood what the brand stood for. To lose that in the mobile industry is a great shame. Brand awareness and values are very much part of what makes brands such as Carphone

Warehouse stick with us. “There will always be a need for a high-street presence. That’s reinforced by the number of mobile-related businesses opening up shops on the high street now, despite the move to online.”

Changes

Bastion Insurance sales director John Fannon adds: “I think the changes brought about by the efforts of Charles Dunstone and the Carphone story cannot be overlooked when folks look back at the earlier days of mobile phones.

“In particular, there was the shift from being used almost exclusively by high-end business users and other wealthy individuals to the point in time when they became an everyman device, with your Aunt Mary having one.

“It’s very difficult now for younger people who have known mobiles all their lives to visualise that back in those days there was a mystique and wariness of mobiles.

I distinctly remember taking a call in a baker’s shop in the north of England and the shop falling silent while folks on the queue stared, pointed and muttered comments like ‘They’ll never catch on’.”

“Now, of course, they are a part of everyday life and Carphone Warehouse played a huge part in that sea change in commoditising mobiles by making them accessible to all and ‘normalising’ the product.

“This was achieved by a very visible growth in the number of stores popping up everywhere and, of course, the first real, properly trained availability of experts to help those that were new to mobile.”

Fannon adds: “Of course, CPW was not the only phone shop chain that was visible, but is the only one remaining after all this time. Other competitors such as Pocket Phone Shop, People’s Phone and Phones 4U have long gone.

“This consistency and certainty from CPW helped reassure buyers and its commercial strength resulted in strong offers and deals from manufacturers and networks that, again, helped people get into mobile phones.

“No doubt the clarity of vision and execution of ideas were down to the leadership from Charles and the management team, and will stand as a testimony to the largest UK phone retailer that really opened up the market.”

Carphone story

CCS Insight chief analyst Ben Wood has followed The Carphone Warehouse story for years.

“Charles’ decision to sell the last of his shares in Dixons Carphone is the end of an era in the UK’s mobile phone industry,” he says. “That this coincided with the decision to abandon the Carphone (and Dixons) brands in favour of Currys underlines this and brings to an end an incredible journey which started in 1989.”

Wood adds: “The world has come a long way from when a mobile phone was more akin to a car battery attached to a handset and cost thousands. The name ‘Carphone’ went on to become a brand known to the entire UK population. That the brand endured for so long is remarkable.

“Dunstone was someone who was in the right place at the right time, but it would be disingenuous to say he was just lucky.

“It was a huge risk for him to leave NEC and start the business, albeit one that paid off massively, reflecting his entrepreneurial prowess combined with his ability to put a good team around him. It has been sad to see the passing of the Carphone Warehouse.

“It has become synonymous with mobile phone retailing in Britain. But the world has moved on and Carphone Warehouse is now just another chapter in the meteoric rise of mobile phones around the world.”

In October, broadcasting and telco conglomerate Sky unveiled plans to open up its own high-street stores across the country – giving it a bricks-and-mortar proposition for the first time in its 30- year history.

The company will open a number of stores in the UK’s largest cities, having started with Liverpool on October 26.

In-store customers will have access to Sky’s latest offerings, ranging from pay TV to mobile and broadband.

The high-street move also includes a tie-up with repair chain iSmash that will see selected stores offering repair services.

Mobile News spoke to iSmash founder Julian Shovlin to gauge what the move means for the company and get an update on how the business is proceeding in this Covid-hit year.

How did the deal with Sky come about?

Last year, iSmash and Sky began exploring whether there was merit in a partnership. Then in Q4 2019, we struck a deal whereby Sky purchased a minority stake in the business. The agreement included a plan to open some co-located stores together, with the first in Liverpool.

Why did iSmash choose Sky over the mobile operators?

Sky caught our eye given its intent on expansion, which the high-street move enhanced for us. It is also one of the market’s fastest-growing mobile virtual networks. When we completed the deal, I believe Sky Mobile had around a million customers and it’s now approaching two million in the UK – an incredible growth in just a short space of time.

How will the deal impact the business?

We think it will really help position us as the market leader for customer-facing repairs in the UK. This partnership is also a step in the right direction in helping us to bring interesting and innovative propositions to the market. iSmash will benefit from the footfall of Sky customers within stores, and Sky will benefit from customers visiting us for mobile repairs. Our and Sky’s offerings are complementary, as Sky provides services such as mobile devices, data plans, TV, broadband and some hardware, while we have the capacity to offer aftersales support through repairs.

In how many stores does iSmash plan to work with Sky?

Ultimately, we’re not sure exactly how far this could go, but we will see how it goes with the first few stores. There’s a large market out there – and for Sky, there’s the potential to go big given how many stores mobile network operators have opened. Although I don’t think Sky has ambitions to go to hundreds of stores, I would imagine it will look to go into all the major cities. The number of stores we look to open will be reviewed as we go along – not least because we’re in a unique time with the pandemic.

Will the move create jobs for iSmash?

Yes there will be recruitment off the back of it. In our new Liverpool location, we have been able to relocate a technician to the premises and hire three new people, including the store manager. We’re also hoping to use the UK Kickstarter scheme to create roles for younger people, with the hope of recruiting up to 50 people under this initiative.

Do you think Sky’s moves are a reflection of how important phone repairs are in the UK now?

Absolutely, and I think there are probably two key trends making repairs seem a more attractive option: handsets becoming more expensive, and people now thinking twice about upgrading as often.

What services will be available to customers in the Sky stores?

From an iSmash perspective, it’s mostly going to be the same as in our normal stores. This includes services such as smartphone, tablet and computer repair, plus technical support. We also offer mobile accessories, such as phone-charging cases. Now, in certain stores, we’ll also be selling refurbished and reconditioned devices.

What impact has the coronavirus pandemic had on the business? 

It’s been a challenging year, as for many businesses – certainly during the lockdown periods because our stores have been closed. Following the first lockdown easing, we did see some good growth in June, yet if it stays the way it is in the second lockdown for the rest of this year, trade is going to be muted. We’re optimistic and hope it improves next year, but really it’s about consumer confidence and people getting back out there to shop. We’ve noticed that our stores in more residential areas are becoming busier, offsetting the quieter activity in the city near where office workers would usually be based.

Finally, talk us through the recently launched ‘collect and deliver’ service?

This service – which has been sped up due to the pandemic – has been launched to provide customers with more convenience. It launched in early November and operates out of our busiest locations through a logistics partner that collects the customer’s device, repairs it and drops it back to them the same day. To use the service customers can go online to book the repair they need and this will arrange for a courier to collect the phone to be taken to one of our stores for repair.