Company History
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History
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It began in a bedroom in Essex. Today Maplin spans the globe. One thing has not
changed: the company really knows its customers.
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Finding electronic components wasn't easy in 1972. Many companies advertised items
but most were government or industrial surplus and although cheap, were often inconsistent
in their quality and availability.
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As electronics enthusiasts themselves, Roger Allen and Doug Simmons were well aware
of the failings of existing suppliers. "There were plenty of catalogues, but you
didn't necessarily get what was in them." said Roger. "We thought there must be
lots of people like us - people trying to produce professional equipment or hobbyists
looking for a reliable source of quality components." Joined by Roger's wife, Sandra,
and using a bedroom in the Allen's home in Rayleigh, Essex , they set up Maplin
Electronic Supplies.
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Milestones on the road to success
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| 1972 |
Roger and Sandra Allen and Doug Simmons start up Maplin Electronic Supplies as a mail order business. |
1975 |
The first Maplin shop opens in Westcliff on Sea, Essex.
Sales receive a big boost after Maplin is invited to take prime advertising space in IPC electronics magazines.
A second shop is opened in Hammersmith, London.
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| 1979 |
The Maplin catalogue is printed in colour for the first time. |
1981 |
Electronics - The Maplin Magazine launched.
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| 1985 |
Maplin Professional Supplies (MPS) created to service the expanding business market. |
1989 |
The National Distribution Centre opens at Wombwell, South Yorkshire.
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| 1993 |
Far East headquarters are established in Taiwan. |
1994 |
Maplin is acquired by Saltire PLC.
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| 1995 |
The first Maplin Superstore is opened in Leeds. |
1998 |
Maplin Electronics launches its catalogue CD Rom.
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| 1999 |
The launch of the fully interactive internet site including an online catalogue and live ordering facility |
2000 |
The company moves back to one annual catalogue. Opens first store in the Republic of Ireland.
The internet site quickly breaks the £1m sales barrier.
The facility in Southend is closed and operations consolidated in Barnsley.
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| 2001 |
Company went through an MBO backed by Graphite capital. |
2002 |
Celebrated the 30th Anniversary of the business.
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| 2003 |
Thirteen new stores opened during the year.
Maplin now has more than 81 stores in the UK and 1400 staff.
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2004 |
Went through a secondary MBO backed by Montagu.
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| 2005 |
Ten new stores opened during the year. Maplin celebrated its 100th store opening in Livingston.
Total number of stores comes to 105 including five stores in the Republic of Ireland.
Employs over 1700 staff nationwide.
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2006 |
Ten new concept stores opened in the last six months of the year, totalling thirteen stores for the year.
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| The Past |
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Maplin printed its first 28-page catalogue, took a small advertisement in an electronics
magazine and waited for the phone to ring. "We were the only people at the time
to say phone us and we'll send you a free catalogue." Roger recalled. "We thought
we'd have to get extra phone lines in to cope with the demand, but in the first
week we had about ten calls. We thought that if we offered the lowest prices, the
fastest service and a catalogue which actually delivered what it promised, we would
be an instant success. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way that wasn't the case.
We found out that it was a long time before people gave us a try."
Nevertheless, word began to spread, and while Roger and Doug remained in their full-time
jobs for another year, and the company didn't make a profit, Maplin gradually built
up its business and reputation. Maplin realised that, in addition to products, customers
wanted technical information, so the second catalogue contained much more detail.
By 1975, the 28 pages had become 216 and contained complete projects.
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| The first Maplin Store in Westcliff |
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The business was growing on its unique reputation for offering first grade electronic
components which could be delivered exactly as shown in the catalogue - and all
by first class mail. Within two years, a second demand had become apparent - a place
where hobbyists could go to buy their components - and Maplin opened its first shop
in Westcliff. The mail order business moved in upstairs.
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| Breakthrough |
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The first major breakthrough came in 1975, when IPC Magazines, alarmed at the number
of complaints against some of their existing advertisers, offered Maplin the prime
advertising position in their electronics journals. Sales received an immediate
boost and Maplin's reputation for reliability, price and quality soared.
A further breakthrough came in 1978 with the first catalogue to feature, and an
expanded product range and more technical data and information than ever before.
Maplin had to double its staff to cope with the demand. Successive catalogues introduced
major innovations. The first laser available to the amateur and, in 1981, the first
home computer. That year also saw the launch of a new magazine for enthusiasts,
Electronics. MPS, then Maplin Professional Supplies, was created in 1985 to service
the expanding professional market, with a catalogue of products selected specifically
for professionals and the business market.
For the next decade, the business continued to grow but Maplin was in danger of
becoming a victim of its own success. "By 1994 we were turning over £29 million
a year." said Roger Allen. "The rate of growth we needed to maintain wasn't going
to be possible without us teaming up with someone else. We didn't think we could
stretch the company to accommodate the rate at which we needed to grow to remain
a credible supplier. Other people were getting together to form bigger and bigger
organisations and we felt we could get left behind.
"We looked around for someone who wasn't just going to swallow us up but had some
electronic presence which didn't conflict with ours. Saltire fitted the bill perfectly.
Maplin was acquired by Saltire in late 1994, and less than a year later opened the
first of a new generation of retail outlets, the Maplin Superstore in Leeds.
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| The Present |
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The business continues to grow, with an extensive product range of over 15,000 products
available from the catalogue, website and store network. Maplin introduces hundreds
of new and innovative products every month and prides itself on a unique product
offer supported by excellent service
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| E-commerce |
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Maplin launched its transactional website in 1999; unique at the time. Not only
did it provide access to all the products in the business, it also checked stock
availability and reserved items for customers in real-time. The site had to live
up TO customers’ expectations from day one, which meant it had to engineer more
features
The site very quickly received over one million hits per month and is now regularly
used by thousands of customers. By 2006, Maplin had over 170,000 visitors to its
web site every day, placing it in the top ten UK ranking for shopping and classified
sites in the ‘Shopping Appliances and Electronics’ category.
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| New store – New concept |
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Understanding that successful businesses constantly evolve, Maplin worked close
with retail consultants to develop a more effective store layout. The key objective
was to make a more pleasant store environment where customers could find what they
were looking for quickly in a pleasant retail environment. This resulted in a whole
new store launching at Oxford in September.
The new store was divided into ‘worlds’: Communication, Components, Sat Nav, Home
& Car, Music, Power, Tools, TV & Satellite and Computing.
Results have shown that customer feedback is extremely positive, with shoppers being
able to find what they want far easier in a more customer-friendly layout.
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| Breakthrough |
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The business continues to grow at a phenomenal rate with company sales reaching
the £150m barrier in 2006; having had an extremely strong Christmas. Maplin continues
to expand its operation in the Far East and is constantly looking to find new, interesting
and innovative products for its customers.
Dr Keith Pacey (CEO) comments "I am extremely pleased that we have continued to
grow as a successful retailer in a complex and difficult market. I know that the
team are really looking forward to the next chapter in this business’s development".
Maplin Electronics will be moving to an expansive 200,000 square feet, state-of-the-art
distribution centre in Manvers (two miles from Wombwell) that will accommodate the
next ten years’ growth.
20 further store openings are planned for 2007 as well as substantial modernisation
of the existing network.
The business has a medium term goal of 250 retail stores throughout the UK and the
Republic of Ireland.
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