Amateur Photographer Magazine

 Jessops blasts former boss after radio outburst - Current chairman blames 'sins of the past'

Thursday 20th August 2009

By Chris Cheesman

Jessops chairman David Adams has strongly refuted claims by a former boss that the chain has left the photographic enthusiast behind in favour of the mass market.

Speaking yesterday, on the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, ex-boss Tim Brookes - who left Jessops before it floated on the stock market in 2004 - said: 'I think the demise really started after flotation when the philosophy and strategy of the business suddenly changed.

'Jessops was concentrating on the keen amateur photographer as its main customer. I think they tried to keep up with the likes of Dixons, Argos and Boots… Jessops left its true customer base behind.'

But, in an interview with Amateur Photographer magazine, Adams hit back: 'We are not walking away from the core of the business... the camera enthusiast.'

Adams - who joined Jessops in 2007 - agreed that Jessops has increasingly focused on the mass market in order to compete with large retail chains and supermarkets.

But he described Brookes' comments as 'ill-informed' and said it was a 'bit rich' to blame current management for the chain's troubles.

'Sins of the past'

Adams blamed the 'sins of the past', citing 'overexpansion, too many stores and too much debt', as the current team 'wrestle' with a trading position that does not support its borrowing.

He described some of Jessops' past acquisitions as 'crazy' and pointed to the burden of the '£60m' stock level at the time he joined.

'There was this headlong rush for space at any cost with no infrastructure.. Therein lies the problems of the company, not a desertion of its customer base,' he added.

Adams: We are not run by the bank - See NEXT PAGE


OTHER JESSOPS ARTICLES
Jessops hires Coffee Republic man
Former Jessops boss in radio outburst
Jessops share price plunge 27 May 2009
Jessops in frame for ID card scheme
Jessops revamps flagship store
Jessops' rent bill pledge
Jessops store closure list
Jessops to shut down 17 stores
Interview with chairman History of Jessops



Picture: Current chairman David Adams (above) largely blames Jessops' troubles on previous 'overexpansion' and strongly denies claims by former boss Tim Brookes (below) that Jessops has left its core market behind

Got an opinion on this story? Why not post a comment on our news message boards

Back to index