Written by John Kruse, one of the leading experts on Bailiff Law, this consumer friendly guide is essential reading for anyone who comes into contact with a bailiff.
The book is easy to understand and clearly explains the rights
a bailiff has, and also what they cannot do when collecting debts and repossessing goods etc.
The company was co-founded in 1989, when most portable phones were too bulky to carry and called car phones, by current CEO Charles Dunstone (together with David Ross[2]) from £6,000 savings.
Year Month Event 1989
The Carphone Warehouse launched 1994
Carphone Warehouse Insurance launched 1996
First Phone House stores open outside of the UK, in Paris and Dublin 1999 January Acquisition of Tandy (UK only) for £9m[3] 2000 June Acquisition of Cellcom for £9.1m[4] 2002
Acquired Opal Telecom 2003 TalkTalk brand launched 2004 January Acquisition of e2save for £4.7m[5] March Acquisition of Xtra in Spain for £11.6m[5] November TalkTalk Broadband launched 2005 March Acquisition of OneStopPhoneShop for £15m[6] December Acquisition of Tele2 for £11.5m[6]
Acquisition of One.Tel for £169.6m[6] 2006 April "Free" TalkTalk broadband offer launched[7] October Acquisition of the access business of AOL UK for £370m[8]
Vodafone switches its contract business to Phones4U[9] November Launch of a MVNO in Spain under the brand "Happy Móvil" 2007 January Suspension of the Big Brother sponsorship deal. May Roll out of Geek Squad nationwide. June Three-year £7million X Factor sponsorship deal signed.[10] July Carphone Warehouse offers free laptop with AOL Broadband (counter-offer of PC World's free laptop with Orange Broadband deal). September The Carphone Warehouse joins the FTSE100 [edit] Divisions
Main article: TalkTalk
TalkTalk is the home telecommunications branch of The Carphone Warehouse.
Carphone Warehouse also own Opal Telecom, a business to business telecoms provider with a popular switch. It may be construed as a conflict of interest that some of the competitors of TalkTalk such as Toucan (part of IDT Direct Limited), use this switch.
[edit] E2Save, The Phone Spot, Mobiles.co.uk, One Stop Phone Shop and Vanilla Mobile
Mobile phone e-tailers e2save, The Phone Spot, Mobiles.co.uk[1] and OneStopPhoneShop are seperately managed divisions within Carphone Warehouse. Vanilla mobile fulfillment service is the distribution side of Carphone Warehouse, and is based within e2save.com
In October 2006 it was announced that Geek Squad would be launching in the UK in a 50/50 joint venture between Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy.[11]
Geek Squad currently offers 24 hour over-the-phone technology support and in-home technical support in the North-West of England and Greater London with surrounding area.
In 2008 the Carphone Warehouse is increasing its joint venture with Best Buy by launching Best Buy Mobile as a "store inside a store" inside of Best Buy's or as a separate store located by Best Buy stores throughout the United States. The labor will be split between the two companies.[12]
Mowbli Logo In the 1990s Carphone Warehouse became well-known for using the Stereo MCs' "Connected" in its advertisements.
Mowbli, the little mobile phone, is Carphone Warehouse's mascot. He appears mainly in radio advertisements with his friend Ed (voiced by the Irish comedian Ed Byrne), and also on television advertisements.
As of 19 June2007, the Carphone Warehouse became the official sponsor of the fourth series of The X Factor. The sponsorship deal stands to last for three years. The Carphone Warehouse will also be the sponsor of its various spin-offs, including The Xtra Factor.[13]
The company were the sponsors for the UK's version of Big Brother since series 5 in 2004, until 2007. In 2006 they also sponsored Celebrity Big Brother and related Celebrity Big Brother shows on Channel 4.
On 17 January2007, in response to alleged racism in Celebrity Big Brother, Charles Dunstone said: "We are talking to Channel 4. The sponsorship is constantly under review. Clearly we are against racism. Most people understand that the person who has their name associated with the programme does not necessarily condone the content. [14][15]
On the 18 January2007, Carphone Warehouse announced that it had suspended its sponsorship of the show as Channel 4 had not taken sufficient action in response to the alleged racism in the show.[16]
On the 8 March2007, the company permanently dropped its sponsorship of the show.[17]
On 10 October2006, Carphone Warehouse announced the purchase of parts of AOL UK for £370 m.[8][18][19] This makes Carphone Warehouse the 3rd largest broadband provider, with over 2 million customers, and the largest LLU Operator with more than 150,000 LLU customers.[20][21]
The acquisition process completed on the 9 December2006
It has also been stated in their press release[8] that AOL UK Audience business will remain a separate organization and brand with a revenue sharing agreement. It is not yet clear if the AOL UK Access business (the broadband part) will be fully integrated into CPW.
AOL UK customers will not be automatically transferred to Talk Talk.[22]
AOL is consulting on job cuts. The Times stated "AOL has begun to consult on the cuts, with 100 of a total 500 UK jobs expected to go by Christmas."[23] In line with legal requirements, AOL UK has notified the DTI that redundancies are planned. The Press Gazette stated "The company has informed the DTI that it is possible that it will make more than 100 redundancies".[24]
On the 1 November2006, it was made public that Karen Thompson, AOL UK CEO and President AOL Europe, had resigned and had been succeeded by Carlo d'Asaro Biondo (previously CEO of AOL France). Karen was responsible for launching AOL UK in 1996.[25]
AOL Broadband logo (previously AOL UK)
AOL customers, welcome to the Carphone Warehouse family
I want to reassure you that we have no plans to change the service in any way at all. It will continue to be run by the existing team and will work, look and feel just as it does today. We have entered a long-term deal with Time Warner to keep providing the AOL content and we don't want to mess with what has clearly been a very popular product to date. In the New Year, all AOL customers will be offered the choice of transferring to Free Broadband if they want, by moving their line rental to TalkTalk and signing up for our Talk3 international telephone service. There will be continuity of service with the ability to take your AOL email address to TalkTalk and access to much of the content you previously enjoyed.
It was made public on 14 December2006 that Carlo d'Asaro Biondo had resigned after only six weeks in his new role. Philip Rowley (the chairman of AOL Europe) has taken over on a temporary basis. The Guardian states: the management turmoil has put the European operation in "freefall" and created a "massive vacuum", according to one AOL insider. The same article estimates that 5,000 AOL jobs are to go world-wide (25% of staff) with a significant number from AOL UK.[27]
In January 2007 AOL UK is re-branded as AOL Broadband.
In an early press statement, The Carphone Warehouse stated they had "no plans to change the service in any way at all," but, since January, anyone heavily using P2P applications have had their downstream bandwidth limited to 50 kbit/s during peak times (6pm-midnight, Sunday to Thursday).[28] When users noticed this and complained, some were offered 30 days to cancel their contract free of charge.[29]
In the third quarter of 2007, AOL Broadband caused a stir by offering a free laptop computer (and eventually a free Playstation 3) to all new customers signing up for a 24 month contract with its AOL Wireless Plus broadband package. While sceptics looked for a catch, industry experts conceded[30] that the offer was reasonable, despite the necessity to sign up to an AOL Talk home phone package in order to be eligible for the free laptop. While an option to not take a bundled home phone package was available, the price increased by £10; further offers include a free Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii in addition to other promotional items.
[edit] E2Save, The Phone Spot, Mobiles.co.uk and One Stop Phone Shop
The Carphone Warehouse has acquired four former competitors, mobile phone e-tailers e2save, The Phone Spot, Mobiles.co.uk[2], and OneStopPhoneShop. Orders are fulfilled through the Carphone Warehouse, but each company has its own terms and conditions and, significantly, rules regarding promotions.
These subsidiaries offered 'cash back' redemption on entering into a contract; customers must send in bills and vouchers to claim back line rental paid to the network. This has proved problematic for many customers.
In the case of the OneStopPhoneShop and e2save[3] customers have had a history of problems in claiming their cash back. OFCOM, the regulator, has admitted receiving many complaints about the behaviour of these two companies but no action has yet been taken.[31]
During 2005 TalkTalk's proactive sales techniques drew criticism in the press when it was accused of practising "slamming" to win new customers. [32] Customers who bought mobile phones from Carphone Warehouse retail outlets alleged that their landline accounts were subsequently switched without their consent [33].
On the 15 August2006, the Information Commissioner's Office issued Preliminary Enforcement Notices for breaches of PECR (The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations) against Carphone Warehouse and TalkTalk for making marketing calls to people who are signed up to the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or people who have asked that the company make no further calls to them.[34][35]
On 28 October2006 in a Times interview Richard Thomas, Britain's Information Commissioner, stated:[36]
We’re taking action against some of the telecom companies, Talk Talk and Carphone Warehouse. We’re taking action against them because we’ve had a lot of complaints that they’ve been telephoning people with marketing calls, people whose name is on the telephone preference service. And then we do these prosecutions, particularly with private detectives. We’ve got a big case coming up.
^On 13 June 2000, the Group acquired the trade, assets and certain liabilities of Cellcom Limited, a telecoms services business registered in England, for a gross cash consideration of £9.1 m.
The Carphone Warehouse. "[Archive copy at the Internet Archive Annual Report 2001]". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-11-03.
"On 1 January 2004, the Group acquired 100% of the issued share capital of E2save.com Limited, a company registered in England, for an initial gross consideration of £1.4 m, with a further contingent deferred consideration of up to £3.3 m payable over two years."
"On 8 March 2004, the Group acquired 100% of the issued share capital of Xtra Telecom SA, a fixed line service provider registered in Spain, for an initial gross consideration of £7.5 m, with a further contingent deferred consideration expected to be up to £4.1 m payable over two years."
"On 1 March 2005, the Group acquired 100% of the issued share capital of One Stop Phone Shop Limited, a company registered in England and Wales that specialises in the mobile ‘off-the-page’ market, for an initial gross cash consideration of £8.3 m, with a further contingent deferred consideration of up to £6.7 m payable over two years."
"On 16 December 2005, the Group acquired 100% of the issued share capital of Tele2 UK Communications Limited (Tele2 UK), a company registered in Englandand Wales, for a gross cash consideration of £11.5 m. Tele2 UK is involved in the provision of telecommunications services to residential customers."
"On 19 December 2005, the Group acquired 100% of the issued share capital of Centrica Telecommunications Limited, Onetel Limited, Telco Holdings Limited, Awardmodel Limited and their subsidiaries (Onetel), all of which are registered in England and Wales, for a gross cash consideration of £169.6 m. Onetel is involved in the provision of telecommunications services to both residential and business customers."
Carphone Warehouse
Type Public Founded 1989 Headquarters London, England, UK Key people Charles Dunstone, CEO
and, significantly, rules regarding promotions.
Royal Warrants Granted by HM The Queen: Alden & Blackwell - A Nash - Angostura Limited - AkzoNobel - Autoglym - Bendicks - Bentley - Bollinger - Britvic - BT - Burberry - Cadbury - Carphone Warehouse - Carr's - Castrol - Charbonnel et Walker - Cornelia James Ltd - DHL Express - Dollond & Aitchison - Ede and Ravenscroft - Ford Motor Company - Frank Smythson - Gieves & Hawkes - H. P. Bulmer - J. Barbour and Sons - James Purdey and Sons - Jaguar Cars Ltd. - John Lewis - John Lewis Reading - John Lobb - Jones Yarrell & Co. Ltd - Schweppes - Kinloch Anderson - Launer London Ltd - Land Rover - MG Rover - Mappin & Webb - Martini & Rossi - Mr Steeds - Nestlé - Roger Pope and Partners - Roberts Radio - Ryvita Co. Ltd - Scottish & Newcastle - Spode - Steinway & Sons - Tanqueray - Twinings - Waitrose - Weetabix Ltd. - William Drake - Windsorian Coach Ltd - Worcestershire Medal Service Ltd - Vauxhall Motors -
Royal Warrants Granted by HRH The Prince of Wales: Aboyne & Ballater - Aston Martin - Autoglym - Bentley - Burberry - Ede and Ravenscroft - Ford Motor Company - Frank Smythson - Gieves & Hawkes - Holland & Holland - J. Lock & Co - Jaguar Cars Ltd. - James Purdey and Sons - John Lobb - Kinloch Anderson - Land Rover - Laphroaig - Linn Products - MG Rover - Penhaligon's - Peter Jones - Ritz Hotel - Roberts Radio - Shepherd Neame - Twinings - Vauxhall - Weetabix Ltd. - Winsor & Newton
Royal Warrants Granted by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh: Dollond & Aitchison - Ede and Ravenscroft - Frank Smythson - Gieves & Hawkes - Hatchards - Holland & Holland - J. Lock & Co - James Purdey and Sons - John Lobb - Kinloch Anderson Ltd - Land Rover - Lyle & Scott - Penhaligon's - Truefitt & Hill -
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