History of Comet
| 1933 | The Company is founded in 1933 by George Hollingbery in Hull as Comet Battery Stores Limited - a two man business charging batteries and accumulators for customer wireless sets. The Company then moves in to the radio rental business and by 1939 has 2,500 accounts with a small fleet of vans. |
|---|---|
| 1968 | Pioneers of out-of-town electrical retailing – the first Comet superstore opens in Hull. |
| 1970 | The Company goes public. |
| 1984 | £129 million take-over by Kingfisher plc. |
| 1987 | Verdict recognise Comet as the best retailer of electrical goods in Britain. |
| 1991 | Opens first service headquarters in Leeds. |
| 1995 | The launch of The Comet Price Index in November 1995 reinforces the company's commitment to price. It heralds its return to its "no nonsense, straight talking" heritage with a definitive guide to electrical products for the home published every Saturday in the national media and updated daily on Channel 4 Teletext. |
| 1996 | Comet acquires Norweb Retail and increased its store portfolio to over 250 stores nationwide. |
| 1998 | Comet establishes a state of the art Call Centre in Hull to manage customer liaison. |
| 1999 | New Destination store format is launched, new concept stores open in Paisley, Greenwich and Reading. Comet launches its Every Day Low Price strategy. Comet launches fully transactional website www.comet.co.uk. Comet wins Best Industry Initiative Award in National Recycling Awards. |
| 2000 | In August, Comet becomes one of the founding partners of RENEW NORTH EAST, a non profit company providing high quality vocations training for people who are long term unemployed, in remanufacture and recycling of white goods donated by Comet. See Environmental/Social Responsibility. |
| 2001 | Leading retail specialist KPMG say, in Retail Week (9 November 2001), that Comet's new concept 'destination stores' pose a serious threat to all competitors in the electricals industry. Comet is the first retailer to sign up to BBC Watchdog's 'Delivering the Goods' charter. Readers from Woman Magazine vote the Comet Home Delivery Service the winner in a consumer survey. |
| 2002 | Comet launches latest flagship 'Destination' (Mark 2) store at St Andrew's Quay in Hull – 70 years after opening its first ever store in the city. |
| 2003 | Comet demerges from the Kingfisher Group. Comet, along with its sister electrical companies throughout Europe are separated from Kingfisher to form a new group known as Kesa Electricals. See www.kesaelectricals.com for further information. |
| 2004 | Launched first two storey store in Enfield in April. |
| 2005 | In July, Comet officially opened its Clevedon Customer Support Centre. In August, Comet re-aligns its business to a customer service driven model with the aim of becoming Britain's Most Trusted Electrical Specialist. New signage for over 250 sites and the Comet website, new black and gold uniforms for 8,000 employees, a new brand TV campaign. e-learning systems are installed in all stores. Deliberate Customer Journey initiative is rolled out in all stores. |
| 2006 | Hugh Harvey is appointed Managing Director in March 2006. DCJ initiative launched in home delivery in June 2006. Comet On Call launched, providing I.T. support over the phone or in customers' homes 7 days a week. |
| 2007 | The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive that makes producers and importers of electronic goods responsible for recycling their products came into full force in the UK on 1 July. To coincide with the new legislation, Comet expanded its collection and recycling service for large electrical items so that everyone, not just Comet customers can benefit. Launched Click and Collect, allowing customers to pick up products in-store 30 minutes after ordering online. Also launched Click and Chat, allowing customers to talk to a colleague live at point of purchase. |
| 2008 | Comet celebrates its 75th Anniversary. Launched next day delivery and Call and Collect enabling customers to call, reserve and pick up products in store. Launched TV wall mount service for popular flat screen TVs. |
| 2009 | Expanded installation services to include gas, integrated and built-in appliances. Comet commissions Future Laboratory report on how amazing new technologies will transform our lives over the next five and ten years. |
If you would like to find out more about Comet, including facts and figures, recent press releases, image library and our corporate social responsibility report, please visit our Press Site by clicking here.
Bookmark this page: