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Phones 4U
Phones 4u was a large independent mobile phone retailer in the United Kingdom. It was part of the 4u Group based in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. Opening in 1996, it expanded to over 600 stores. On 14 September 2014, EE and Vodafone, the company's final remaining suppliers, ended their contracts. The company entered administration on 15 September 2014 with PricewaterhouseCoopers appointed as administrators. History In 1987, John Caudwell and his brother Brian founded ''Midlands Mobile Phones'', a wholesaler and distributor of mobile phones. The company became the Caudwell Group, whose high street retail arm was named Phones 4u. On 26 September 2006, The Caudwell Group was sold for a sum of £1.47 billion to private equity firms Providence Equity Partners and Doughty Hanson & Co. In February 2008, the group bought online retailer Dialaphone in a deal worth an estimated £9 million. In July 2010, Phones 4u partnered with electrical chain Dixons to place 49 concessi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to the north, with Soho and Mayfair to its immediate south. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around 300,000 daily visitors, and had approximately 300 shops. It is designated as part of the A40, a major road between London and Fishguard, though it is not signed as such, and traffic is regularly restricted to buses and taxis. The road was originally part of the Via Trinobantina, a Roman road between Essex and Hampshire via London. It was known as Tyburn Road through the Middle Ages when it was notorious for public hangings of prisoners at Tyburn Gallows. It became known as Oxford Road and then Oxford Street in the 18th century and began to change from residential to commercial and retail use, attracting street traders, conf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
EE (telecommunications)
EE Limited (formerly Everything Everywhere Limited) is a British mobile network operator and internet service provider, and a brand of BT Consumer, a division of BT Group. It was established in 2010 and is the List of mobile network operators of Europe#United Kingdom, second-largest mobile network operator in the United Kingdom, with 21.2 million customers as of September 2022. It was originally formed in 2010 as a 50:50 joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and France Télécom (now Orange S.A.) following the merger of T-Mobile UK and Orange UK, their respective businesses in the UK; the former brands were phased out in 2015. The name was shortened to EE when the company concurrently launched the UK's first 4G mobile network in 2012. EE was acquired by BT in 2016 and became a new consumer division within the wider group. EE has its headquarters in London, England, as well as hubs in Bristol, Darlington, City of Sunderland, Sunderland, Greenock, Merthyr Tydfil, North Tyneside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PC World
''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online-only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal technology products and services. In each publication, ''PC World'' reviews and tests hardware and software products from a variety of manufacturers, as well as other technology related devices such as still and video cameras, audio devices and televisions. The current editorial director of ''PC World'' is Jon Phillips, formerly of ''Wired''. In August 2012, he replaced Steve Fox, who had been editorial director since the December 2008 issue of the magazine. Fox replaced the magazine's veteran editor Harry McCracken, who resigned that spring, after some rocky times, including quitting and being rehired over editorial control issues in 2007. ''PC World'' is published under other names such as PC Advisor and PC Welt in some countries. ''PC W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dixons Carphone
Currys plc is a British multinational electrical and telecommunications retailer, and services company headquartered in London, England, which was formed in 2014 by the merger of Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse Group. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The company operates under a number of brands in the United Kingdom, Ireland and mainland Europe. These include Currys in the United Kingdom and Ireland and Elkjøp, Elgiganten and Gigantti in the Nordics. History Following shareholder agreement in July 2014, the £3.8 billion merged entity was launched on 7 August 2014; on the first day of trading the shares in the merged business were owned 50:50 by the former Dixons Retail and former Carphone Warehouse shareholders. Carphone Warehouse's Sir Charles Dunstone was appointed chairman, and Sebastian James became chief executive. On the first day of trading, the company opened Carphone Warehouse concessions in seven PC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newcastle-Under-Lyme
Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population was 75,082. Newcastle grew up in the twelfth century around the castle which gave the town its name, and received its first charter in 1173. The town's early industries included Hatmaking, millinery, silk weaving, and coal mining, but despite its proximity to the Staffordshire Potteries, Potteries it did not develop a ceramics trade. Toponym The name "Newcastle" is derived from a mid-12th century motte and bailey that was built after Stephen, King of England, King Stephen granted lands in the area to Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, Ranulf de Gernon, Earl of Chester; the land was known for his support during the civil war known as The Anarchy. The element ''Lyme'' is found throughout the locality, such as in Lyme Brook and the Fore ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phones 4 U, Briggate (11th April 2011)
A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into electronic signals that are transmitted via cables and other communication channels to another telephone which reproduces the sound to the receiving user. The term is derived from and (, ''voice''), together meaning ''distant voice''. In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be granted a United States patent for a device that produced clearly intelligible replication of the human voice at a second device. This instrument was further developed by many others, and became rapidly indispensable in business, government, and in households. The essential elements of a telephone are a microphone (''transmitter'') to speak into and an earphone (''receiver'') which reproduces the voice at a distant locati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carphone Warehouse
Carphone Warehouse is a mobile phone retailer based in London, United Kingdom. In August 2014 the company became a subsidiary of Currys plc (previously named "Dixons Carphone"), which was formed by the merger of its former parent Carphone Warehouse Group with Dixons Retail. Prior to this merger, Carphone Warehouse Group was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Following the closure of all stand-alone UK stores in April 2020, all remaining Carphone Warehouse UK outlets were within branches of Currys PC World. In April 2021, the Carphone Warehouse business in Ireland (including all stand-alone and co-located branches and the website) was closed with immediate effect. Currys continued to use the Carphone Warehouse brand in the United Kingdom, online and, until 2021, inside Currys stores. History Early years The company was co-founded in 1989 by Sir Charles Dunstone and Julian Brownlie, who put £6,000 into the company from their savin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PC World (retailer)
PC World was a British retail chain of mass market computer big-box store, megastores. Established in November 1991, it became part of Dixons Retail in February 1993, and then part of Currys plc, Dixons Carphone, after the merger of Dixons Retail and Carphone Warehouse in August 2014. During its final years, the company's remaining physical stores were within co-branded "Currys PC World" branches, although this was retired in October 2021, after which point the company became known simply as “Currys”. History In November 1991, Vision Technology Group Ltd, led by Jan Murray (entrepreneur), Jan Murray, opened the first PC World shop in Purley Way, Croydon. Jan Murray attained an annual turnover of £50 million by April 1992, after he had opened the four largest flagship stores around London. In February 1993, when Dixons Group plc (now Currys plc) purchased the chain, there were four PC World shops in existence. There followed a period of expansion, as more shops were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Currys
Currys (branded as Currys PC World between 2010 and 2021) is a British electrical retailer and aftercare service provider operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland, specialising in white goods, consumer electronics, computers and mobile phones. Established as a bicycle retailer in 1927, Currys expanded the range of goods sold and from the 1960s became a major retailer of household electrical items. In 1984, the company was bought by rival retailer Dixons, and the Currys brand was used for all outlets of the combined company. From 2008, the business turned away from shops in town centres to larger out-of-town stores under the Currys PC World brand, combining the operations of Currys with Dixon's PC World under one roof; after the formation of Dixons Carphone in 2014, the stores gained Carphone Warehouse departments. It was announced in July 2021 that all Currys PC World stores would be rebranded to Currys. History Early years Henry Curry started to make bicycles in Pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dixons Retail
Dixons Retail plc was one of the largest consumer electronics retailers in Europe, which merged with Carphone Warehouse in 2014 to create Dixons Carphone, which was renamed Currys plc in 2021. In the United Kingdom, the company operated Currys, Currys Digital, PC World (with stores increasingly dual-branded ''Currys PC World''), Dixons Travel and its service brand Knowhow. At the time of the merger in 2014, Dixons Retail had 530 outlets in the United Kingdom and Ireland and 322 in Northern Europe. Its Nordic and central European business was operated under the Elkjøp umbrella, and it also operated Kotsovolos in Greece. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The company, formerly known as Dixons Group plc and later DSG International plc, specialised in selling mass market technology consumer electronics products, audio video equipment, PCs, small and large domestic appliances, photographic equipment, communication ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doughty Hanson & Co
Doughty Hanson & Co. is a British private equity fund manager focused on leveraged buyout and recapitalization transactions primarily of upper middle-market companies in Europe. The firm also invests opportunistically in European real estate and provides early-stage venture capital to technology companies. The firm which was founded in 1985 by Nigel Doughty, Chris Wallis and Richard Hanson is one of the oldest European buyout private equity firms. Since its inception, the firm has invested over €23 billion across more than 100 investments. On 4 February 2012, Doughty was found dead in the gymnasium of his Lincolnshire home. Then, on 10 August 2015, the firm announced the shutdown of most of its European offices after abandoning its next round of funding. The offices closed in 2015 included Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid and Stockholm. In May 2017, the firm re-branded itself to DH Private Equity Partners. History Doughty Hanson traces its history back to 1985 when Nigel Doughty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Providence Equity Partners
Providence Equity Partners L.L.C. is a specialist private equity investment firm focused on media, communications, education, and technology investments across North America and Europe. The firm specializes in growth-oriented private equity investments and has invested in more than 170 companies globally since its inception in 1989. The firm manages funds with over $31 billion in aggregate private equity capital commitments, making it a large global player in the private equity industry. Providence was one of the principal pioneers of a sector-based approach to private equity investing. The firm's eighth fund, Providence Equity Partners VIII, closed on $6 billion in 2019, above its $5 billion target. The prior fund, Providence VII, closed with $5 billion in 2013. Providence is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island with additional offices in New York, Boston, London and Atlanta. Operations The firm raises investment funds from a broad array of institutional investors, includi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
