Retail
- DSG international plc
DSG international plc is Europe's leading specialist electrical retailing group. We have more than 1,200 stores and online stores, spanning 27 countries and employing 40,000 people. More than 100 million customers shop in-store and online with us every year. Our retail and e-tail brands include PC World, Currys and Dixons.co.uk in the UK and Ireland, ElkjØp in the Nordic countries, UniEuro in Italy, Kotsovolos in Greece, Electro World in central Europe, PC City in France, Spain, Italy and Sweden, and Pixmania.com across Europe.
DSG international sourcing Ltd is a separate company within the Group dedicated to sourcing original equipment manufacture (OEM) products worldwide. With a 60+ strong regional sourcing office in Asia DSG international sourcing Ltd is the preferred choice for many of the world's leading OEM manufacturers.
Group Companies
Currys is the UK's largest electrical retailer. Providing an extensive product range including digital vision, DVD, home theatre, audio, photographic technology, cooking, laundry, refrigeration, computing, communications and small domestic appliances.
The Currys chain, including Currys digital has 547 stores in a combination of High Street and out of town locations. There are four Currys stores in the Republic of Ireland (as of 6 January 2007). Currys' annual sales in 2005/2006 were £1985 million.
ElkjØp is the leading electrical retailer in the Nordic region. ElkjØp became part of DSG international in 1999. The company was founded in 1962 and listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange in 1993. Sales in 2005/2006 were £1,155 million. Six retail chains operate stores across Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. These stores sell white goods, brown goods, consumer electronics, PCs, communications products and related services through:
ElkjØp and Lefdal Lavpris - With 97 stores across Norway, ElkjØp stores have an average floor space of 10,000 sq ft and Lefdal Lavpris stores are bigger at around 15,000 sq ft. There are 53 El Giganten stores in Sweden, 27 in Denmark and three in the Faroe Islands, specialising in mixed electricals in out of town locations. Swedish stores are larger at 24,000 sq ft with Danish stores averaging 12,500 sq ft.
Gigantti and Markantalo - There are currently 26 superstores in Finland under the Gigantti brand. The first opened in September 1999. In January 2006, the Group acquired the 22 store portfolio of Markantalo, the number two electrical retailer in Finland (now 26 stores).
Elko - ElkjØp has a presence in Iceland through two Elko brand stores. A central warehouse at Jönköping in Sweden supports stores across the entire Nordic region.
Kotsovolos is the leading electrical retailer in Greece. DSG international acquired a 15% stake in the company in April 2000 and became the majority owner in September 2004. Kotsovolos began as a single store in Athens in 1950. Today it trades from 82 stores, with more than 700,000 sq meters of selling space and 2,000 employees, Kotsovolos has grown strongly in recent years to be the clear market leader in Greece. Sales in 2005/2006 were £263 million
UniEuro is the leading electrical retailer in Italy. Acquired by the Group in 2001, UniEuro currently operates 116 stores, mainly in out of town locations and concentrated in the North West and North East of Italy. Total selling space is 2,237,000 sq ft. The stores sell a mixture of high technology consumer electronics, personal computers, domestic appliances, photographic equipment, communication products and related services. The proposition is focused on competitive prices, customer service and new technology. Sales in 2005/2006 were £633 million
Electro World is DSG international's chain of electrical superstores in Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland. It now has more than 20 stores and employs 900 people in the region. Electro World sales in 2005/2006 were £119 million.
PC World is Britain's largest specialist chain of computer superstores. The superstores offer more than 5,000 product lines including extensive ranges of PCs, laptops, printers, software, peripherals and accessories from the major brands, as well as many PC World exclusive product's. In-store PC Clinics offer on the spot advice and service. Component Centres offer a 'one-stop shop' for customers with advanced technical knowledge, providing a vast choice of PC components and upgrade products at competitive prices. In 2007, PC World won Retail Week's Product Innovation of the Year award, for its Data Recovery service. Every PC World store has an in-store business centre staffed by experienced business specialists. They offer local companies face-to-face help and advice with choosing the best IT solutions. There are 150 stores in the UK and six in the Republic of Ireland (as of 6 January 2007). Sales in 2005/2006 (including PC World Business) were £1,746 million
DSGi Business is the Group's business unit comprising PC World Business, Equanet, MacWarehouse and Microwarehouse. We are one of the UK's largest specialist providers of IT solutions, consultancy and products to businesses and the public sector. We offer a total IT solution for customers of all sizes, and more than one third of businesses and the public sector have a dedicated partnership with us. Our Catalist accreditation means we are an approved reseller for the Catalist IT catalogue to the public sector, ranging from central government to local council departments, and schools to hospitals throughout the UK. Across three offices and 150 business centres throughout the UK, we employ approximately 2,000 staff, of which there are 1,000 dedicated technology advisors and 350 nationwide field engineers who make more than 165,000 site visits to organizations each year. The operation is supported by a 500-strong IT helpdesk based in one of the largest technical support centres in Europe. PC World Business sales for 2005/06 were £376.5 million
The PC City format was developed out of the Group's unique, market leading PC World chain in the UK and Ireland. PC City Group sales in 2005/2006 were £288 million.
PC City Spain
PC City is the leading specialist PC retailer in Spain with 25 superstores across the country. PC City Spain was formed after the acquisition of Ei System in 2000, which provided the opportunity to build a chain of superstores to take advantage of the rapidly growing PC market.
PC City Italy
There are nine PC City stores in Italy - Legnano, Milan and Marcon (near Venice), Roma Lolli and Afragola. The superstores offer a market leading range of PCs and related products. There are eight PC City stores in Stockholm, Sweden. The first store opened at the end of September 2003. Logistics support is aided by the Group's existing local ElkjØp infrastructure
Dixons.co.uk is the UK's best-known retailer of consumer electronics. Its site welcomes more than one million visitors every month. From camcorders to plasma TVs and DVD players to laptops, Dixons.co.uk has been offering customers the very best and very latest technology since it first opened as a single photographic studio in 1937. On 5 April 2006 we announced our intention to focus Dixons.co.uk exclusively on e-commerce operations. Its High Street stores in the UK have been rebranded as Currys.digital and now offer a wider range of products and services, including major and small appliances. Dixons.co.uk will continue to offer new technologies at market beating prices. The six Dixons stores in the Republic of Ireland were unaffected by the rebranding, as were Dixons' 21 tax-free airport stores. Sales in 2005/2006 were £680 million.
Pixmania is the only pan-European e-tailer of digital photographic and consumer electronic goods. It trades in 26 countries through bespoke transactional websites. It has four million customers and 1,600 employees. Pixmania is already a market leading e-tailer of consumer electronic goods in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, and the business is growing strongly in all countries in which it has a presence. In 2006, DSG international acquired a controlling 77% stake in its parent company, Fotovista. In addition to Pixmania.com, the business includes mypixmania.com (a site specialising in online digital photo processing), primashop.com (childcare equipment) and e-merchant.com (a B2B service site enabling brands and retailers to run e-commerce businesses across Europe). Unaudited management accounts for the year ended 31 March 2006 show sales of over Euro 450 million, of which 80% relate to online activities, and underlying profit before interest and tax of Euro 7.6 million
Genesis Communications is the UK's largest independent mobile service provider, operating in the business to business sector. Acquired by the Group in 2002, Genesis Communications has partnerships with the UK's major mobile networks, and offers a full wireless service, including hardware, customer account management and billing. Genesis is also the UK's leading supplier of wireless data services to the SME market, including 3G and Blackberry solutions. The company was formed in 1995 and now has more then 35,000 business customers, 170,000 subscribers and over 500 employees. Genesis has 12 regional offices across the UK and a state-of-the-art head office in Bury, Lancashire.
Partmaster offers Britain's best range of accessories and spares for electrical products. Whether you want to connect your mobile phone to your personal organizer or replace a lost or broken remote control, Partmaster can help. Partmaster stocks more than 300,000 products and receives around 750,000 calls a year. The website is also a rich source of product information on how to get the very best from your products.
The TechGuys is DSG international's digital support service for the 21st century home. Research shows eight out of ten UK adults routinely want help with everyday technology tasks, such as restoring lost data or installing new PC equipment. DSGi's response is The TechGuys, 3,000 experienced advisors ready to provide customers with fast, reliable and expert help and advice. They are supported by state-of-the-art repair centres, technical databases, a spare parts vault of more than 2 million components, and an award-winning telephone team who handled 3.6 million calls last year and fixed 80% of callers' IT problems over the phone. In addition to installing and servicing goods sold through DSGi's retail stores, The Tech Guys offer advice and fixed fee repairs on items bought elsewhere. If a repair is required, The Tech Guys offer a 'no fix, no fee' service.
