History

1970 to 1990
Business started, selling fancy goods and watches to coastal areas. Turnover of £500,000.

1990
Moved to new offices on Waterloo road and started distributing batteries by default after a fellow exhibitor left a few samples on our stand to sell. Moved on to sourcing branded batteries from Europe selling over 1 million cells in our first year.

1993
Became official distributor for Panasonic batteries selling over 10 million cells each year.

1996
Became official distributor for Duracell batteries and founded Photomax Ltd selling specialist photo products. Now selling 60 million cells each year.

1998
Moved to new distribution depot in Trafford Park and signed an exclusive distribution agreement for Samsung batteries.

2001
Now the biggest battery distributor in the UK selling 120 million batteries into 2100 live customers.

2003
Moved into 45,000 sq foot distribution centre in Trafford Park and successfully carried out a £16.1m management buyout. Sales now over £28m.

2004
Acquired 3 companies: GPS photographic to complement Photomax, Gemini to acquire the Memorex licence and blue chip accounts and Jazz photo which manufactures over 4 million single use cameras each year.

2005
260m batteries sold into 3600 live accounts across Europe. Batteries now account for over 65% of group turnover.

2006
Extension built to existing site which now totals 82,000 sq foot of warehouse and offices

Extensive investment made in Information Technology systems: we implemented WMS, a fully integrated warehouse management system (paperless warehouse); ACT, a customer relationship management system; and iDWebstore, an online ordering system for our customers (paperless office).