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Flash sale: AO snaps up camera seller Jessops from Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones

1 min read Rewritten in plain language

Ao WorldJessopsMergers and AcquisitionsOnline ShoppingE Commerce

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  • The troubled camera retailer Jessops has changed hands after AO World acquired the business from the Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones.
  • In December 2024, AO bought musicMagpie, which buys and sells used smartphones, tablets, consoles, video games, CDs and DVDs.
  • Jessops posted a 6.5% rise in revenues to £19.8m last year, and made a pre-tax loss of £1m, down from £1.17m in 2024, according to its most recently filed accounts at Companies House.
  • Jones bought the Jessops brand in January 2013 to run it as a purely online retailer, and did not buy its 187 stores.

4 sentences from our version of the report, chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below. How

Jones bought the Jessops brand in January 2013 to run it as a purely online retailer, and did not buy its 187 stores.

Headline check

All three things this headline claims are in the report.

Figures, names and quoted words in the headline, looked for in the report itself — not in the summary above. How this is checked

Online electricals retailer says latest purchase continues to broaden its appeal beyond white goods, phones and TV.

The troubled camera retailer Jessops has changed hands after AO World acquired the business from the Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones.

The online electrical retailer said on Thursday it had completed the acquisition of Jessops.

AO bought the entire business, including its remaining seven stores around the UK, for an undisclosed sum.

In December 2024, AO bought musicMagpie, which buys and sells used smartphones, tablets, consoles, video games, CDs and DVDs.

The company said it expected Jessops to grow over the next 12 months as it leveraged its own scale, web traffic and operational expertise.

Jessops posted a 6.5% rise in revenues to £19.8m last year, and made a pre-tax loss of £1m, down from £1.17m in 2024, according to its most recently filed accounts at Companies House.

Founded in 1935 by Frank Jessop in Leicester, Jessops has endured a troubled history over the past two decades, and called in administrators three times.

Jones bought the Jessops brand in January 2013 to run it as a purely online retailer, and did not buy its 187 stores.

Shortened to 1 minute of reading, this version reads 5.5 on the Niral Score.

You are reading our version, not theirs. This is The Guardian Australia (Business)'s report shortened to its most important sentences, in plainer words, with verdicts and loaded words taken out. Plain description stays, and so do adjectives that carry a fact, such as "former" or "federal". The reporting, the facts and the quotations are theirs — quotations are never edited — and the indicators beside it measure this version. Hover or tap Adjectives to see every one left in the text.

How this outlet filed it, and how we rewrote it

No other newsroom we read has filed on this event, so there is nothing to compare it with yet.

Outlet Niral ScoreAdjectivesSourcingHappiness
The Guardian Australia (Business)as they published this story 7.7 6 47 59.9
Mundane Readneutralized from The Guardian Australia (Business) 7 6 47 59.9

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