- Maplin Electronics
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Maplin Electronics 
Type Private Industry Retail Founded Westcliff on Sea, U.K. (1972)[1] Founder(s) Roger Allen
Sandra Allen
Doug SimmonsHeadquarters Brookfields, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, UK Number of locations 187 stores (Jun 2011) Area served United Kingdom/Ireland Key people John Lovering (non-executive Chairman) Products Electronic goods Revenue £310 million (2008), 
44% from 2006[2]Profit £35 million (2008) 21.5 million (2007), 31% from 2006[2]Owner(s) Montagu Private Equity Employees Over 2000 (2009) Website http://www.maplin.co.uk/ 
Maplin Electronics is a retailer of electronic goods in the UK and Ireland. As of December 2010, there are 180 Maplin Electronics stores in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it operates an extensive web and catalogue based mail-order service.
Contents
History
Early beginnings in Essex and catalogue
Maplin Electronic Supplies was established in 1972 as a small mail order business by Roger Allen and Doug Simmons and assisted by Roger's wife Sandra. The company was based in a bedroom at the Allen's home in Rayleigh, Essex after the two electronics enthusiasts were disappointed by the failings of existing suppliers of electronic components. They took out a small advertisement in an electronics magazine after printing the company's first 28 page catalogue which would be offered free to callers. Despite a slow start and no profit in the first year the company began to build a reputation for offering first grade electronic components which could be delivered exactly as shown in the catalogue by first class post.
By 1975 the catalogue had grown to 216 pages with technical specifications and complete projects and the founders realised that an actual retail outlet would be beneficial. The first store opened in nearby Westcliff on Sea, with the mail order business moving in above the shop. Sales received a large boost when Maplin was invited to take prime advertising space in IPC electronics magazines after receiving a number of complaints against some of their existing advertisers. A second store opened in Hammersmith before the year was out. By this time, the mail order business had outgrown the space available above the Westcliff store and a large ex-dairy building a few miles away in Hadleigh was purchased and soon established as Maplin's first warehouse.
Maplin had already started designing electronic kits for hobbyists and musicians, with several major synthesiser and organ projects being published in Electronics & Music Maker, Maplin's first magazine and subsequently being made available as kits. After the move to Hadleigh, the technical team and management launched Electronics - the Maplin Magazine, initially on a quarterly publication schedule and then later as more projects were designed this was increased to an issue a month.
The kits were a perfect vehicle to sell Maplin's components and the articles in Electronics published full circuit diagrams, parts lists and technical articles with full instructions for building and setting up the projects. All this happened in the early 1980's, and the sudden boom in home computer ownership spawned by manufacturers such as Sinclair, Commodore and Atari created opportunities for Maplin to create home build project kits to plug in to these computers such as speech synthesisers, memory expansion cards and extension keyboards, RS232 serial interfaces and so on.
At the height of production of the home build kits Maplin's range was vast, with in house designed power amplifiers, radio kits, a weather station and a full weather satellite receiving and display system and many others, as well as the Heathkit and Velleman ranges of kits. The Maplin catalogue, with its distinctive futuristic space ship and planet themed cover art by Lionel Jeans was crammed with hundreds of application circuits, with each new release being eagerly awaited by the hobbyist community and selling hundreds of thousands of copies each year.
Move to South Yorkshire
In 1985 Maplin Professional Supplies (MPS) was created to service the expanding business market with a catalogue of products selected specifically for professionals and the business market. In 1989 a new National Distribution Centre was opened at Wombwell, South Yorkshire and four years later a Far Eastern headquarters was established in Taiwan.
By 1994 Maplin had a turnover of more than £29 million a year and it was clear more help was needed to organise the business so late that year Maplin was acquired by Saltire PLC[3].
In 1999 Maplin launched its own website and the following year sales from the site hit £1m. The Southend on Sea headquarters also closed in 2000 and all operations were moved to the Wombwell base. In 2001 the company changed hands again, this time with management buyout backed by Graphite Capital[4].
Recent activity
Former Maplin Electronics logo.
In 2004 Montagu Private Equity purchased 67% of Maplin from Graphite Capital at a cost of £244m[5]. In 2007 the company began to relocate its headquarters and distribution centre to a new facility at Brookfields Park on the former Manvers Main Colliery, Rotherham, just two miles from the old warehouse in Wombwell. Maplin discontinued the processing of orders outside of the UK and Ireland in January 2010. Montagu Private Equity are now evaluating their options with Maplin, as the value of their investment has been realised. It is envisaged that when the market conditions are right, Maplin will be floated on the London Stock Exchange.
Store expansion
As of January 2011, there are 183 Maplin Electronics stores, 14 of which opened in 2010, the most recent in Rugby. [6]. The company has a medium term goal of 250 retail stores throughout the UK and Ireland, before expanding abroad. It is envisaged that Maplin would look at opening their first mainland Europe store in France as this could be possibly operated from their Rotherham head office.
Product range
Maplin sell a variety of electrical equipment such as audio/visual devices, electrical components, computer components, cables, TV and satellite equipment and everyday electrical items such as batteries, light bulbs, power adaptors and solar energy panels. The company also sell MP3 players, portable televisions and satellite navigation equipment. The target market ranges from the general consumer to the more technical electronics hobbyist.
References
- ^ "Maplin Electronics - Company History". http://www.maplin.co.uk/CompanyHistory.aspx.
- ^ a b Maplin Electronics posts rise in profit
- ^ cbronline.com
- ^ Maplin Electronics, Graphite Capital
- ^ Montagu Private Equity announces £244 million acquisition of Maplin Electronics
- ^ Store Openings
External links
Categories:- Companies established in 1972
- Consumer electronics retailers of the United Kingdom
- Electronic component distributors
- Companies based in Rotherham
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