Studio, (formerly part of Findel plc) is a British

home shopping Home shopping is the electronic retailing and home shopping channels industry, which includes such billion dollar television-based and e-commerce companies as Shop LC, HSN, Gemporia, TJC, QVC, eBay, ShopHQ, Rakuten.com and Amazon.com, ...

business and is a wholly owned subsidy of the

Frasers Group Frasers Group plc (formerly known as Sports Direct International plc) is a British retail, sport and intellectual property group, named after its ownership of the department store chain House of Fraser. The company is best known for trading pr ...

. Studio was founded in 1962 under the name "Fine Art Developments". It operates online and through catalogues and currently sells

electronics Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...

furniture Furniture refers to objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., Stool (seat), stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (table (furniture), tables), storing items, working, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Furnitur ...

, homeware and gifts. Studio also offer a

buy now, pay later Buy now, pay later (BNPL) is a type of short-term financing that allows consumers to make purchases while only initially paying for a portion of their value, postponing payment of the remainder of the debt until a future date, or dividing it into ...

service called Studio Pay. In 2022, Studio was purchased out of administration by

for £26.8 million.

History

Findel started as a greeting card company and went public in the early 1960s under the name "Fine Art Developments." It spun off its greeting card business in 1997 as a separate company called "Creative Publishing", which was subsequently acquired by

Hallmark Cards Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a Privately held company, privately held, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of greeting cards in the United ...

in 1998. The company changed its name to "Findel plc" in 2000 and then to Studio Retail Group plc in 2019. It was previously listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

between the early 1960's to 2022 before the company fell into administration and shares were suspended on 14 February 2022 when it announced its intention to appoint administrators. In August 2010, Findel sold CWIO, Confetti.co.uk and

I Want One of Those I, or i, is the ninth letter and the third vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''i'' (pronounced ), plu ...

(IWOOT) to The Hut Group. In April 2013, Findel sold its healthcare division, NRS, to LDC, and in March 2015 Findel sold its Kleeneze business to CVSL Inc. In February 2016, Findel sold its online sports retailing business,

Kitbag Kitbag Ltd. is an English sports retailer. The company was purchased by Fanatics, Inc. from Findel PLC in February 2016 for £11.5M, previously the company was purchased by Findel PLC in October 2006 from European Home Retail plc. Stores Ki ...

, to the leading US provider of licensed sports apparel and merchandise, Fanatics, Inc., a snub to Mike Ashley &

Sports Direct Sportsdirect.com Retail Limited, trading as Sports Direct, is a British retail company owned by Frasers Group. The company was founded in 1982 by Mike Ashley (businessman), Mike Ashley and was originally based in Maidenhead, England. It specialises ...

who had expressed interest in the brand. Sports Direct acquired an 18.9% share in Findel but was unsuccessful in appointing a director. In April 2017, Findel appointed Phil Maudsley as group CEO. In June 2019, Findel announced plans to rename itself as Studio Retail Group, and this change came into effect in July. In April 2021 Studio sold the Findel Education businesses for £30 million. In February 2022, Studio announced its intention to appoint administrators because options to secure additional borrowing had failed, leaving it insolvent. Its shares are currently suspended on the London Stock Exchange. In February 2022, Studio Retail Group announced plans to call in administrators after a £25 million funding bid failed. The company was then purchased by

for £26.8 million.

Studio Pay

Studio Pay is a

service allowing customers to spread the cost of their purchase over varied payment terms. The service and credit is provided by Frasers Group Financial Services Limited a part of the

. Studio Pay can be used with retailers such as Sports Direct,

House of Fraser House of Fraser (rebranding to Frasers) is a British department store chain with 23 locations across the United Kingdom and 2 in Ireland, part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it ...

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

, Flannels.

Leadership

In 2020, Studio Retail Group PLC nominated Paul Kendrick as the CEO of the Group. He took over from the previous CEO, Phil Maudsley, when he retired in March 2021. Kendrick joined the company as Studio Retail's commercial and deputy managing director in May 2016 before being promoted to managing director in April 2017. In December 2019, he was appointed to the company's board of directors. Kendrick stepped down from Studio in 2023 after the business was integrated into Frasers Group following its acquisition in 2022

Former operations

* Findel Wholesale Limited * Findel Europe B.V. * Findel Sourcing (Shanghai) Limited * Findel Asia Sourcing Limited * Findel Education * Express Gifts Philippines Inc * Kitbag * Kleeneze * CWIO * I Want One Of Those * Confetti.co.uk * NRS

References

{{Frasers_Group Retail companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Tameside Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom 2022 mergers and acquisitions