Are Jessops Going Under????

Dave450

Dave450

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Recently, on here in the Bargin section, Jessops have been doing some serious discounts (Flash Gun, CF cards etc etc) are they going under?? Or just a mass clearance for new stock????
 
Dave450 said:
Recently, on here in the Bargin section, Jessops have been doing some serious discounts (Flash Gun, CF cards etc etc) are they going under?? Or just a mass clearance for new stock????
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Hope not, we've just spent a fair bit of money there :(
 
I know they've called a general meeting of some kind on either 21 or 22 January..

Maybe they'll be trading under a different name, hence why most if not all of Jessops branded stuff is in a sale :shrug:
 
I'd heard a couple of people mention the possibility of Jessops going under, but I've not seen any proof (although, I haven't really looked all that hard, I only use them for prints).
 
markta said:
I know they've called a general meeting of some kind on either 21 or 22 January..

Maybe they'll be trading under a different name, hence why most if not all of Jessops branded stuff is in a sale :shrug:
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That's just to wind up the old trading company - ownership passed to a joint venture between HSBC (who were owed £35million) and the company pension fund.

They're NOT going under, certainly not until HSBC get their money back which will probably take about 150 years....
 
I went to jessops on boxing day (moorgate branch) to have a browse, the number of staff outnumbered me 5 to 1.

None of them made any efforts, they were standing around looking at the dust gathering on the floor.
 
henryf4 said:
I went to jessops on boxing day (moorgate branch) to have a browse, the number of staff outnumbered me 5 to 1.

None of them made any efforts, they were standing around looking at the dust gathering on the floor.
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Its often like that at my local store. The only difference being you are normally rugby tackled to ground within 2 ft of the front door by some eager spotty oik in a Jessops shirt.
 
henryf4 said:
None of them made any efforts, they were standing around looking at the dust gathering on the floor.
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I've experienced the same in the Preston, Blackpool and Manchester Jessops stores. But have you noticed, that no matter how busy they don't look, they never have time to talk to you?

Aside from their usual prices, that's what put me off Jessops the most and what ended up being the final straw. I went in a couple of years ago to drop about 3 grand on gear. After half an hour of watching three staff help a single person purchase a £10 bag for his point and shoot, and being completely ignored by all of them, I told them exactly what I thought and left.

Now, I won't go into Jessops for anything other than prints (because I don't have to interact with a staff member other than to hand over my cash and get my prints) even when they may have a special deal on that makes them the cheapest around. I was tempted by that Sandisk Extreme offer for a couple of minutes though. ;)
 
Whenever there's a thread about Jessops, it's always interesting to see how long it lasts before it degenerates into people slagging off the staff.

In this case: 15 minutes.

Nice one guys. It might be a record.
 
I've used Jessops loads of time only ever had good experiences

Just bought a Nikon 50mm afs of them , very helpful and polite as always
 
StewartR said:
Whenever there's a thread about Jessops, it's always interesting to see how long it lasts before it degenerates into people slagging off the staff.

In this case: 15 minutes.

Nice one guys. It might be a record.
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To be fair, it's probably a contributory factor as to why there are so many disparaging threads about them on here in the first place, so it's not really a surprise is it?

Similarly, if the service is that poor in a large number of stores, it's also not a surprise to hear that they are struggling, is it? :shrug:
 
Simmotino said:
Similarly, if the service is that poor in a large number of stores, it's also not a surprise to hear that they are struggling, is it? :shrug:
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Pay peanuts & you get monkeys.... Long gone are the times of staff passionate about photography in a Jessops store. One of the side effects of becoming a national chain rather than an independent.

Like any business transaction, I only use them when I need them, and I hold no loyalty to a particular branch. If I had a good local independent then they would get my business.

Steve
 
I have used Jessops on and off for many years, Glasgow, then Coventry, both very good, this was in the early 80's, Northampton, good guys, now sadly closed, St Annes, and Blackpool, hard work, staff only interested in there next fag break, and our local (Buxton) branch closed last year, which was a shame because the guys in there were very good, knew what they were talking about, very helpfull, shame they close the branches that have good people in.



Dave.
 
I find Jessops always try and make out they know better than anyone else.

I recently bought my first DSLR from Jessops earlier in the year. The D60 with 18-55 lens plus the 55-200 too.

Before the purchase I went to my local independant camera store and got some great advice, got to hold and try out the cameras etc and finally made my mind up what to buy. Before handng over my hard earned I found the kit about £120 cheaper from Jessops.

My local store wouldn't price match unfortunately and when I went to buy in Jessops, some 15year old work experience kid tried to say I'd had bad advice and talk me out of buying the two Nikon lenses and buy a Sigma 18-200 instead, saying the build quality of the Sigma will always be far supereor to the Nikon kit ones.

No doubt had I wanted to buy the D60 with Sigma 18-200 they'd have tried to convince me the two kit lenses were better.

I stuck by my guns and bought the two kit lenses which I am really happy with, but those few days were really confusing for me.
 
Jessops are now owned by HSBC banking as the major share holder after having baled them out for the past year. Watch out for Jessops stores closing and concessionaire stands in departmental stores instead. (rumour )

You read it here first
Realspeed
 
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Just about to move this to Suppliers etc.

However, in defence of Jessops, our Inverness branch is very, very good indeed. Staffed by at least three photographers I'm aware of, the staff are helpful, keen and enthusiastic. I use them whenever I can, even if there's a slight price penalty to do so.

That's not always the case though. This week I picked up a SB900 from them for £303. It's actually £299 now with the discount code and the only cheaper supplier is Jacobs (£294) who didn't/don't have them in stock.

So, High Street convenience cost me a fiver, I can walk away with the goods, if I need service in the future I don't have to get it packed up and incur postaqge costs etc etc. A price worth paying for me :)
 
I used to work in Jessops.

I was sick and tired of getting messed around.

I'd do overtime and it wouldn't get paid properly and I'd have to fight for my money.
I'd do a store transfer and it would take months to reclaim my expenses.
I'd come to work when I wasn't supposed to, and not turn up when I was timetabled in because the manager would change the rota midweek and not tell everyone.
I had to sit and eat my lunch in a freezing cold stockroom on a fold up director's chair (my mates at Sainsbury's had a pool table, sofas, a kitchen, a big 40" tv with DVD player).
The idiots at the top had no idea what was going on at the bottom. People WILL NOT BUY a £20 protection plan on a £50 bloody camera. What happens next? My stats go down, I get a 'concerns meeting' for not meeting targets.
You know who had the best stats in the area? The guy who sold a Sony A230 to everyone. If they didn't know what they wanted, they wanted a Sony A230. We made £100 profit on it, therefore he could cut £30, chuck in a 3 year protection plan for £10 extra, and there we have it. He didn't care what the customer wanted, he cared about sales figures and percentages.

The thing that annoyed me a lot, too, were the customers.
They were rude, they knew more than you (and couldn't wait to tell you all about how much you were wrong), they always had a better price somewhere else, they always wanted something for free, and they were never happy. (this goes for about 60% of SLR customers).

So there we have it.
I worked there for 2 years, and I loved the people I worked with - the only reason I held out for so long.
 
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I've bought a number of bodies from Jessops over the years as they have been very competitive on prices.

I'd love to use an independent but unfortunately the two I used to buy from (KP Professional in Cambridge and AJ Purdy in Harlow) have both been beaten by Jessops in the longevity stakes.

As has been said above, Jessops have undergone a major restructuring and so will be likely to continue for sometime whilst the former creditors and now new owners try to recoup some money. I personally hope they succeed. We've already lost many of the independent camera stores and certainly several with good stock levels so if Jessops go, we're down to the world of online, PC World (shudder) or less than a dozen decent sized retailers across the country and a lot more travelling...
 
foodpoison said:
You know who had the best stats in the area? The guy who sold a Sony A230 to everyone. If they didn't know what they wanted, they wanted a Sony A230. We made £100 profit on it, therefore he could cut £30, chuck in a 3 year protection plan for £10 extra, and there we have it. He didn't care what the customer wanted, he cared about sales figures and percentages.
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Sad that targets make (some) people give advice like that :(
 
aligibbs said:
Sad that targets make (some) people give advice like that :(
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Rather than focussing on what the customer needs, they want us to focus on giving customers pieces of tat that they don't need. Which is what I had a problem with, and why my 'add-on' targets were not met.

My manager was telling me to sell tripods, lens cleaning kits, lens hoods, hot-shoe spirit levels, extra lenses (most were crap), memory cards (if we could sell 2x 4gb cards rather than 1x 8gb card, then that's much better), memory card readers, you name it I was told to sell it. I didn't.

I sold the bare minimum and then, after asking what the customer's favourite thing to shoot was, suggested things they might like. Landscapes? A tripod, a filter set, perhaps a hot shoe spirit level etc etc. Portraiture? Perhaps a studio kit, a flash head, a TTL-lead.
 
Jessops will be delisted from the stock exchange in early 2010 and continue trading as Jessop’s but owned by a company called ‘snap equity’.
My prediction is that there will be more store closures in to 2010 , then the business will continue to trade until :-
1, The bank who are keeping them afloat pull out
2, Canon and Nikon who are their two biggest suppliers cut lines of credit
3, Both of the above
 
To be fair I don't expect high street stores to be able to give advice and help. Whenever I'm buying anything (especially electrical stuff) I do my own research - short list possible items, then compare, read reviews and forums and so on. I'll look at online and internet prices and buy from wherever I'm happy.

In the case of my camera Jessops worked out pretty much the same place as online, so I went and got it from them, a couple of months later when I was buying one from my dad they were cheapest again. Both times I was in and out in 10 minutes.

I've wandered into a couple of branches of LCE and have to say that most of the stuff you guys are complaining about could be said about them too, its just the way of the high street. A mate was impressed because he bought a 5dMk2 from them, returned the next day to buy a new bag and got £10 off a £50 bag... I reckon he could of saved £100 going online for the 5d and probably got the bag for the same price.. but he's happy, so I guess it takes all sorts.
 
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One of the best places to buy is at Focus -on -Imaging at the NEC (UK) in March. I won't say you get fantastic bargains, but you can get some pretty good deals as one stand is competing with another.

Realspeed
 
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my experience of jessops, i had been given a £50 jessops gift voucher and was in a dilemma what to spend it on as most of their gear is overpriced,i decided to order a manfrotto monopod,and stump up the extra 30 quid balance,that was 3 weeks ago,still no sign of it,i've been told it's a special order item and is on order with manfrotto,their attitude was call us we won't call you,why do they bother listing stuff they don't hold stock of,and at a £18 premium over warehouse express prices?
 
realspeed said:
Jessops are now owned by HSBC banking as the major share holder after having baled them out for the past year. Watch out for Jessops stores closing and concessionaire stands in departmental stores instead. (rumour )

You read it here first
Realspeed
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I think this has already happened as I was in WH Smiths in the Arndale Manchester on Boxing day.

Inside was Jessops at the back of the store.
 
foodpoison said:
I sold the bare minimum and then, after asking what the customer's favourite thing to shoot was, suggested things they might like. Landscapes? A tripod, a filter set, perhaps a hot shoe spirit level etc etc. Portraiture? Perhaps a studio kit, a flash head, a TTL-lead.
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That's how stores and sales-people should be. I know my longest running hobby has been guitar and I know a few guys in both the local and the distant stores. And perhaps you don't get the best price, or the biggest selection but you get nice advice have a great chat, and they always accommadate your needs as best they can. More often than not they're willing to order in two or three instruments. But the key point here is have my business every time - these are the guys we return to business these days is too much about numbers and less about the trust, quality and honesty. I think the big stores are forgetting this.
 
I've just bought a D700 from Jessops. List price £1799 but got it for £1699. The lady that served me was both knowledgable and polite. Pee'd off that when i got it home it didn't work and they can't get another one in for a week and half but that's not her fault and she offered to lend me a D300s until mine arrived.

Have used them on and off for a long time and have never really had any problems with them.

Agree that sometimes some staff can be a pain in the arse but that happens everywhere.
 
DerekL said:
I think this has already happened as I was in WH Smiths in the Arndale Manchester on Boxing day.

Inside was Jessops at the back of the store.
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Actually that may not be such a bad thing. The biggest bills Jessops will be paying apart from wages and purchases will be property rental. I expect a number of their sites they will own outright, but a good number, especially those in shopping centres will be on a lease basis. Reducing these costs by sub-letting in a department store would cut their costs and still leave them with a high street presence.

Another problem is stock - each store having to carry stock rather than a central warehouse means high costs. Certainly the stock levels in Jessops in Norwich has reduced dramatically, when the new big store opened here, it had a fair number of islands filled with accessories ranging from development trays and lightboxes to bags. Quite nice to browse. Now the shop is virtually empty.

Norwich at one point had three Jessops. Their oldest store was tiny and jam-packed, so they opened another small branch which dealt with photo processing to take the strain off the other shop. Then a new shopping centre opened and for about 8 months all three shops (within 5 minutes walk of each other) were trading, but they closed the two small shops in favour of the big one. The two empty shops are still empty about 2 years on.

I have a soft spot for jessops. My first Camera (a secondhand Canon AE-1) was from Jessops, along with a small shoulder bag which I still have, the AE-1 was stolen... I can still remember the old Jessops price lists which were huge pieces of paper with very tiny print. My second camera EOS650 was also from Jessops, as was my first dSLR (350D).
 
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StewartR said:
In this case: 15 minutes.

Nice one guys. It might be a record.
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Which is less time than it takes to find an attentive staff member working at Jessops. ;)
 
realspeed said:
One of the best places to buy is at Focus -on -Imaging at the NEC (UK) in March. I won't say you get fantastic bargains, but you can get some pretty good deals as one stand is competing with another.

Realspeed
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Do you have a link to a site providing details on this? i would quite like to go.
 
realspeed said:
I won't say you get fantastic bargains, but you can get some pretty good deals as one stand is competing with another.
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I saw the exact same thing happening at the Broadcast Video Expo at Earl's Court earlier this year. You really can't help but find good deals when all of the top guys in an industry are all in the same expo hall competing for your cash. :)

I've decided to skip the BVE in 2010 though in favour of Focus at the NEC. Maybe see you there? :)

IanC said:
Do you have a link to a site providing details on this? i would quite like to go.
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http://www.focus-on-imaging.co.uk/
 
This is on their web site link below:-
Jessops PLC

Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting

to consider proposed members' voluntary liquidation

Following the announcement on 29 September 2009 of the completion of the solvent restructuring of the Jessops group of companies, Jessops plc (the "Company") announces that a circular convening an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company to be held at 10.00 a.m. on 21 January 2010 at the offices of Ashurst LLP in Broadwalk House, 5 Appold Street, London EC2A 2HA has today been sent to shareholders of the Company (the "Shareholders").

The Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company is being convened to obtain Shareholders' approval for the board's proposal that the Company be put into a members' voluntary liquidation.

The shares in the Company (the "Shares") will be suspended from trading on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority at 7.30 a.m. on 20 January 2010 in advance of the Extraordinary General Meeting. It is intended that if the resolutions put before the Extraordinary General Meeting are passed by the requisite majorities, the Shares will be cancelled from the Official List of the UK Listing Authority with effect from 8.00 a.m. on 22 January 2010.

A form of proxy to be used in connection with the Extraordinary General Meeting will be attached to the circular.

Copies of the circular have been submitted to the Document Viewing Facility of the UK Listing Authority at the Financial Services Authority, 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS (telephone 0207 066 1000). The notice is also available on the Company's website www.jessops.com.

Ends -
http://www.jessops.com/corporate/do...rporate/doc/Jessops_EGM_Circular_Dec_2009.pdf
 
Chaz Photos said:
This is on their web site link below:-
Jessops PLC

Notice of Extraordinary General Meeting

to consider proposed members' voluntary liquidation

Following the announcement on 29 September 2009 of the completion of the solvent restructuring of the Jessops group of companies, Jessops plc (the "Company") announces that a circular convening an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company to be held at 10.00 a.m. on 21 January 2010 at the offices of Ashurst LLP in Broadwalk House, 5 Appold Street, London EC2A 2HA has today been sent to shareholders of the Company (the "Shareholders").

The Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company is being convened to obtain Shareholders' approval for the board's proposal that the Company be put into a members' voluntary liquidation.

The shares in the Company (the "Shares") will be suspended from trading on the Official List of the UK Listing Authority at 7.30 a.m. on 20 January 2010 in advance of the Extraordinary General Meeting. It is intended that if the resolutions put before the Extraordinary General Meeting are passed by the requisite majorities, the Shares will be cancelled from the Official List of the UK Listing Authority with effect from 8.00 a.m. on 22 January 2010.

A form of proxy to be used in connection with the Extraordinary General Meeting will be attached to the circular.

Copies of the circular have been submitted to the Document Viewing Facility of the UK Listing Authority at the Financial Services Authority, 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS (telephone 0207 066 1000). The notice is also available on the Company's website www.jessops.com.

Ends -
http://www.jessops.com/corporate/do...rporate/doc/Jessops_EGM_Circular_Dec_2009.pdf
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As explained numerous times before, that's the old company, Jessops PLC, not the new one that owns the company now, Snap Equity
 
StewartR said:
Whenever there's a thread about Jessops, it's always interesting to see how long it lasts before it degenerates into people slagging off the staff.

In this case: 15 minutes.

Nice one guys. It might be a record.
Click to expand...

When the cap fits.

The moorgate branch is my local one. The staff in there have very little idea (at least the ones I've spoken to)
 
Flash In The Pan said:
As explained numerous times before, that's the old company, Jessops PLC, not the new one that owns the company now, Snap Equity
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so if its not the same company why is it on the same web site ie jessops.com looks like some tax con to me how to get out of lossing money lest split up so we dont go under and forget to pay the bills
 
It is becasue htey owed the bank and the pension funds gazillions, and the only way the bank where going to get any money back was to take over the company, so the assets were transfered to the newco, to stop jessops being wound up.

DOn't forget, jessops don;t have much in terms of assets. They lease business premises, stock on sale or return, and outsourced manufacturing. It is the setup of the company and the name which is worth so much. Hence the bank taking control.

It used to be a listed PLC, so they had to give the stock market info, and that is what this announcment is doing, telling anyone who may own shares that the company is being wound up
 
And it is unlikely that it is a tax con, they havn't made a profit for years..(not checked assumed this)
 
Chaz Photos said:
so if its not the same company why is it on the same web site ie jessops.com looks like some tax con to me how to get out of lossing money lest split up so we dont go under and forget to pay the bills
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Because the entire business transferred over to Snap Equity, they're not getting out of paying any bills or "lossing money", they're winding-up the previous company in the correct manner....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Because the entire business transferred over to Snap Equity, they're not getting out of paying any bills or "lossing money", they're winding-up the previous company in the correct manner....
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How is it the entire company when it been split up which part do the bank own?
I guess this is why Sigma will not supply them
 
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