AO World, the online electricals retailer, has bought the camera chain Jessops from the Dragons’ Den investor Peter Jones. The price has not been disclosed; AO is paying from cash it already holds, according to City AM, Amateur Photographer and Proactive Investors.
What AO is actually buying
Jessops is a far smaller business than its name suggests. It now trades from fewer than ten high-street shops, eight by City AM’s count and seven by Amateur Photographer’s, where it once ran hundreds. The sale also takes in Camera Jungle, Jessops’ second-hand camera business, which Amateur Photographer and Proactive Investors both single out as part of the deal.
The numbers are modest and still in the red. City AM and Amateur Photographer both report revenue up 6.5% in the latest year, with a loss of about £1m. That is the profile of a business that has stopped shrinking, not one that has started growing.
A brand that keeps being rescued
Jessops dates back to 1935, according to City AM, and its recent history is a run of near-misses. It went into administration in 2013, when Jones stepped in, and called in administrators again in 2019 and 2021, according to City AM and Amateur Photographer. Each time the estate came out smaller. What AO is buying is what three restructurings left behind: a name photographers still recognise, a trade-in operation and a handful of shops.
Why an electricals retailer wants cameras
The logic runs through AO’s second-hand business. AO bought musicMagpie, the refurbished-tech seller, in December 2024, and Camera Jungle fits the same model: take used kit in, refurbish it, sell it again. City AM reports chief executive John Roberts describing the deal as part of a push into adjacent categories. Cameras are an enthusiast market where trading in old bodies and lenses is routine, which suits a company already built around taking devices back.
AO announced the purchase alongside its half-year trading update. It expects sales up 5.5% and profit up more than 20% for the six months to 30 September, according to City AM and Proactive Investors. Amateur Photographer reports that AO’s shares fell about 8% on the morning of the announcement.
What is still unclear
Nobody has said what happens to the remaining shops or the people who work in them. Amateur Photographer reports that AO expects Jessops to grow over the next 12 months, but no plan for the high-street estate has been published, and neither has any change to how existing Jessops orders or repairs are handled.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who owns Jessops now?
AO World owns Jessops after buying it from Peter Jones; the price was not disclosed and AO funded the deal from existing cash.
Is Jessops closing its shops?
No closures have been announced, and AO has not yet published plans for Jessops’ remaining high-street stores.
Sources
- AO World strikes deal with Peter Jones to snap up Jessops — City AM
- I’m Out - TV Dragon Peter Jones off-loads ailing Jessops chain to leading electricals retailer AO — Amateur Photographer
- AO World buys camera chain Jessops as profit jumps by a fifth — Proactive Investors