The Link (retailer)

Last updated
The Link
Industry Mobile phone retailer
FoundedOctober 1994
Defunct21 June 2006 (stores);
September 2010 (internet)
FateStores: Renamed (2006);
Web: Closed (2010)
Successor O2 (retail stores)
Headquarters United Kingdom
ProductsMobile Phones, Mobile Broadband, Mobile Services & Portable Consumer Electronics
Parent Dixons Retail
Website Official consumer site at the Wayback Machine (archived 2007-09-08)

The Link was an internet based mobile phone and communications retailer in the United Kingdom. It was owned by Dixons Retail, the United Kingdom's largest consumer electronics retail group, and traded online through a dedicated retail website, which in addition to mobile phones also offered satellite navigation systems and broadband Internet services.

Contents

The brand was previously used for a chain of mobile phone retail stores, which (from 1997) were 60% owned by DSGi, and 40% owned by O2, the telecommunications company. At the time of The Link's retail store operation, O2 was a subsidiary of BT Group, but the network is now owned by Telefónica of Spain.

In June 2006, the retail store network was taken over by O2; The Link's website, which remains owned by DSG, continued to trade independently of the stores. In September 2010, The Link website went offline, and ceased taking new orders, directing customers to visit the site of sister firm Currys; [1]

History

DSG International opened the first branch of The Link in October 1994, due to the demand for mobile phones and other communications products. DSG International also sells mobile phones in its Currys Digital (formerly Dixons) and Currys chains, but opened a separate chain to provide more capacity for the growth in mobile phone sales. In 2004, the managing director Nick Wood left The Link to become managing director of Dixons. He was replaced by Dixons Group marketing services director Elizabeth Fagan. [2]

By August 2005, there were 295 branches of The Link, spread across the United Kingdom. The Link's annual sales from 2004 to 2005 were £428 million. In September 2005, DSGi said they were open to offers for new owners of The Link as O2 would not sell their share. [3]

The Link also replaced their long running advertising campaign (featuring a specially rerecorded version of "Speak Easy" by Shed Seven) with new comedy sketches, featuring the Ken and Kenneth characters from The Fast Show , filmed inside the Waltham Cross store of The Link. A new logo was created, and the in store look was dramatically overhauled. "Music" was seen as the main focus of The Link from that point, according to Nick Wood, and he hoped that would turn the fortunes around.

O2 buys out DSGi share

On 21 June 2006, DSGi sold their 60% share of The Link to O2 for £30 million. The deal included all of The Link's stores. [4] O2's purchase of The Link meant that some stores were rebranded as O2, whilst non retained sites were sold to others.

Shortly after DSGi selling its share of the company, Fagan left the company in September 2006 to become managing director of Boots Opticians and Nick Wood returned. Wood quickly made his mark,[ citation needed ] applying an easier to understand commission structure, placing "live" models of phones in stores, and expanded the product range to include MP3 players and Satellite navigation systems.

Overall, of the 295 Link stores, around half were rebranded as O2, with the majority of the remainder being sold to competing telecoms retailers such as Orange, T-Mobile, Phones 4U, and 3, with three in particular being able to expand their previously smaller store network significantly with a number of former Link sites. In some cases, such as the Bexleyheath Shopping Centre, O2 moved from their own previous site to the Link site, and released their previous store to another operator, in the case of Bexleyheath, this was 3.

A small percentage of sites were closed or sold to non mobile phone related companies, such as Costa Coffee. The majority of Link staff in these stores remained employed by the new store owners, under Transfer of Undertakings (2006) United Kingdom regulations.

Online only trading

By 31 January 2007, The Link brand was no longer on the high street and became an internet brand. TheLink.com [5] and TheLink.co.uk [6] were retained by DSGi following the sale of the physical business to O2.

The websites continued selling pay monthly and pay as you go mobile phones on Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Virgin Mobile and Three, as well as mobile broadband and mobile services. The Link also offered a range of portable consumer electronics, such as iPods, Sat Navs and Laptops, as well as LCD televisions; these products were available either as gift incentives with mobile phone contracts, or for separate purchase.

In September 2010, The Link website went offline, and was replaced with a link to the Currys webpage. [1]

Competition

The Link's main competitors were Phones 4U, Carphone Warehouse and Dial-a-Phone, who offered a variety of networks to their customers.

The Link also had competition from the networks' own shops, namely 3, O2, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone and Virgin Mobile, as well as prepay competition from the likes of Woolworths, Comet and Argos. This was the reason for the late adoption of Vodafone, as a post-pay network, which did not take place until 2002, as announced in November 2001. [7]

Related Research Articles

A SIM lock, simlock, network lock, carrier lock or (master) subsidy lock is a technical restriction built into GSM and CDMA mobile phones by mobile phone manufacturers for use by service providers to restrict the use of these phones to specific countries and/or networks. This is in contrast to a phone that does not impose any SIM restrictions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgin Mobile</span> Wireless communications brand

Virgin Mobile is a wireless communications brand used by seven independent brand-licensees worldwide. Virgin Mobile branded wireless communications services are available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Poland and Mexico. Virgin Mobile branded services used to be offered in Australia, France, Singapore, India, Qatar, South Africa and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O2 (Ireland)</span> Former broadband and telecommunications provider in Ireland

Telefónica Ireland was a broadband and telecommunications provider in Ireland that traded under the O2 brand (typeset as O2). O2 Ireland was previously called Esat Digifone when it was owned by Esat Telecommunications (and Telenor) from 1997 to 2006.

Dixons Retail plc was one of the largest consumer electronics retailers in Europe, which merged with Carphone Warehouse in 2014 to create Dixons Carphone. In the United Kingdom, the company operated Currys, Currys Digital, PC World, Dixons Travel and its service brand Knowhow.

The Carphone Warehouse Limited was a mobile phone retailer based in London, United Kingdom. In August 2014 the company became a subsidiary of Currys plc, 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 was closed with immediate effect. Currys continued to use the Carphone Warehouse brand in the United Kingdom, online and, until 2021, inside Currys stores.

Vodafone Limited, trading as Vodafone UK, is a British telecommunications services provider, and a part of Vodafone Group Plc, the world's second-largest mobile phone company. Vodafone is the third-largest mobile network operator in the United Kingdom, with 18.5 million subscribers as of February 2024, after O2 and EE, followed by Three. The country's first cellular phone call was made on the Vodafone network in 1985.

Dixons was a British high-street retailer of consumer electronics, originally founded in 1937 as a photographic studio by Charles Kalms. The company would later deal in many consumer electronics, with nationwide outlets in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Currys</span> British consumer electronics retailer owned by Currys plc

Currys 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.

The term mobile commerce was originally coined in 1997 by Kevin Duffey at the launch of the Global Mobile Commerce Forum, to mean "the delivery of electronic commerce capabilities directly into the consumer’s hand, anywhere, via wireless technology." Many choose to think of Mobile Commerce as meaning "a retail outlet in your customer’s pocket."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Currys Digital</span> Former British electrical retailer

Currys Digital was an electrical retailer in the United Kingdom owned by Dixons Carphone, with its origins in a photographic shop opened by Charles Kalms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phones 4u</span> Mobile phone company

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.

T-Mobile UK was a mobile network operator in the UK. First launched as Mercury One2One on 7 September 1993, the network was originally operated by Mercury Communications. one2one was purchased by Deutsche Telekom in 1999, who rebranded it with their global T-Mobile brand name in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virgin Mobile (UK)</span> Former mobile phone service provider

Virgin Mobile UK was a mobile phone service provider. The company was launched by Virgin Group and One2One in 1999 as the world's first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), initially using the One2One network. Virgin Mobile offered contract mobile packages, as well as mobile broadband services. It sold its services directly, as well as through price comparison sites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3 (company)</span> Global telecommunications brand

Hutchison 3G Enterprises S.A.R.L., trading as 3 (Three) and Hutchison 3G, is the owner of several originally UMTS-based mobile phone networks and broadband Internet providers, which operate in Hong Kong, Macau, Austria, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O2 (UK)</span> British telecommunications provider

Telefonica UK Limited, trading as O2 UK, is a British telecommunications services provider, headquartered in Slough, England which operates under the O2 brand. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint venture between Telefónica and Liberty Global. O2 is the UK's largest mobile network operator, with 31.3 million subscribers as of September 2021.

EE is a British national mobile network operator and internet service provider, which is a brand within the BT Group. EE is the second-largest mobile network operator in the United Kingdom, with 21.7 million customers as of September 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electro World (retailer)</span>

Electro World is an electronics online retailer founded in 2002 and operating in Sweden. It also operated in Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Greece and Turkey, as a subsidiary of Currys plc, until operations in those countries were sold off.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Currys plc</span> British retail company

Currys plc is a British multinational electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company headquartered in London, England. It was formed on 7 August 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.

Hutchison 3G UK Limited, trading as Three UK, is a telecommunications and internet service provider operating in the UK and based in Reading, England. It is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings, a limited liability Cayman Islands company registered and listed in Hong Kong. Three is the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United Kingdom, with about 10.3 million subscribers as of May 2023.

Vodafone Australia is an Australian telecommunications brand providing mobile and fixed broadband services. Vodafone’s mobile network covers more than 23 million Australians, and Vodafone has commenced the rollout of its 5G mobile network. Vodafone NBN fixed broadband services are available in capital cities and selected regional centres. Vodafone is the third-largest wireless carrier in Australia, with 5.8 million subscribers as of 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 "TheLink closure message". TheLink. Archived from the original on 26 October 2010.
  2. ↑ "Dixons Group's Elizabeth Fagan to be The Link md". Marketing Week. 5 February 2004. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  3. ↑ "Dixons boss would be happy to sever The Link". The Guardian. 8 September 2005. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  4. ↑ BBC News - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5101016.stm
  5. ↑ "403 Forbidden". Archived from the original on 2000-05-11.
  6. ↑ "The Link, UK Free Internet Service". Archived from the original on 2000-02-29.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.