JML (John Mills Limited) is a consumer product company based around the UK specialising in the promotion of products with video screens in retail stores. The company develops products in the categories of homewares, health & beauty, DIY and gifts and sells them through its website, TV channels and retail. In addition to its own products, JML distributes products from other international

direct response television Direct response television (DRTV) is any television advertising that asks consumers to respond directly to the company — usually either by calling a toll-free telephone number, sending an SMS message, or by visiting a web site. This is a form of ...

(DRTV) suppliers.

History

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portra ...

founded JML in the basement of his house in Camden in 1986. Reverting to a model of selling at trade shows, the company expanded into consumer selling after a trial involving end-of-aisle video demonstrations in third-party owned retail shops. JML first established its headquarters in

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the open ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

. This was home to one third of the company's workforce, containing the product development, marketing, direct to consumer, video production, international sales and broadcast operations. In 2016 JML moved its headquarters to Chiswick,

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...

, as part of its expansion plans. JML's fulfilment centre is based in

Port of Tyne The Port of Tyne comprises the commercial docks on and around the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear in the northeast of England. History There has been a port on the Tyne at least since the Romans used their settlement of Arbeia to supply the gar ...

, comprising a 24/7

call centre A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center ( American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephon ...

, retail sales team,

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

and distribution facility. In 2010 it was named as one of Europe's Top 500 Growth Companies. In June 2019 JML's current CEO, Ken Daly, was elected as Chairman of the Europe Board of Directors for the ERA (Electronic Retailing Association)

Divisions

JML Retail

JML's core business is retail screen promotions. These can be found in various UK and Irish retailers including

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorks ...

Boots A boot is a type of footwear. Boot or Boots may also refer to: Businesses * Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England * Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom * The Boot, Cromer St ...

Robert Dyas Robert Dyas is a UK hardware retailer founded in London in 1872. It sells a range of housewares, small electrical appliances, gardening products, kitchenwares, DIY, and consumer electronics throughout 93 shops, mainly in Greater London and South ...

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

and Wilko.

JML Direct

The brand also has a direct-to-consumer business through its

JML Direct TV JML Direct TV is a generic name for a series of British shopping channels broadcasting on the Sky, Freesat and Freeview platforms, owned by JML Direct Limited. JML Direct TV originally launched on Sky channel 664, on 1 October 2002 as JML Di ...

shopping channel Shopping channels (also known in British English as teleshopping) are a type of television program or specialty channel devoted to home shopping. Their formats typically feature live presentations and demonstrations of products, hosted by on-air pr ...

(operating on Sky 661 and Freesat 806), website and bi-yearly catalogue. The UK infomercials are largely produced in-house as well as featuring

product demonstration In marketing, a product demonstration (or ''"demo"'' for short) is a promotion where a product is demonstrated to potential customers. The goal is to introduce customers to the product in hopes of getting them to purchase that item. Products offere ...

video content from across the globe. JML also broadcasts through third parties.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.jmldirect.com/ Companies based in the London Borough of Hounslow Retail companies established in 1986 Mail-order retailers