Richer Sounds

Richer Sounds plc
Company type	Unlisted plc
Industry	Retailer
Founded	London Bridge, England (1978)
Headquarters	London, England
Key people	Julian Richer, Founder; David Robinson, Chairman; Claudia Vernon, Marketing Director; Sam Walters, Sales Legend
Products	Hi-fi, home cinema, LCD & plasma TV
Number of employees	403 (2009)
Website	www.richersounds.com

Richer Sounds is a retailer and e-tailer of hi-fi, home cinema and flat screen TV equipment based in the UK. The chain is 100% owned by Julian Richer, the founder and managing director of the company.

He began at the age of 14 by buying and selling hi-fi separates, while still at school. By the age of 17 he had three people working for him and in 1978, aged 19, Richer Sounds formally began trading when Julian opened his first shop at London Bridge, with the help of the late Vic Odden, the photography retailer. For the past 20+ years this store has been featured in the Guinness Book of Records for the highest sales per square foot of any retail outlet in the world.

The company now trades from 48 stores in 39 towns/cities nationwide, with 10 in London alone, and is the biggest hi-fi retailer in the country.

Historically, Richer Sounds has been known for selling budget audio equipment in a ‘pile it high and sell it cheap’ fashion, but in recent years it has responded to a shift in the electronics retail market and expanded its range from the purely audio to encompass plasma and LCD TVs. In a similar vein, 2007/8 saw the company launch ranges of audiophile hi-fi, multi-room and high-end home cinema separates, with some stores adding home-styled demonstration rooms where customers can experience the quality of sound and vision in comfort. An installation service has also been developed, covering home quotations, wall-mounting TVs and building complete home theatre rooms for customers. As part of this process the company had a corporate rebrand, which involved not only redesigning their logo and literature, but also a huge ongoing programme of facelifts (both inside and out) to expansions and relocations of their stores.

The core philosophy of the company can be summed up by the motto “Biggest Brands, Best Prices, Expert Advice & Take It Home Today”, which is emblazoned on every shop front and featured in all ads and in-store literature. Their sales colleagues, many of whom are by nature hi-fi enthusiasts, are trained to know their products thoroughly but not to ‘hard sell’ - and to deal with any problems quickly and efficiently rather than referring customers to impersonal call centers. Richer Sounds shops tend to be on the edge of main shopping areas in order to keep costs down and pass savings on to their customers, and they also guarantee to beat any competitor’s price, including internet prices.

Customer service lies at the very heart of their business. Julian Richer encourages customers (browsers and buyers) to shape the shopping experience by asking for their feedback, both positive and negative. Each store provides freepost cards that get sent directly to him. Shoppers get to rate their visit via a questionnaire attached to every receipt, and Julian responds personally to any negative feedback.

Richer Sounds is known for empowering employees to make a difference to the company. Its suggestion scheme is widely acknowledged as one of the most successful in terms of the number of suggestions received per employee and has gone on to become the model for many other businesses, including the Halifax bank and Asda supermarkets. It has also been cited by academics as an example of a good idea system, most notably Dr Alan G Robinson of the Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts Amherst, in his paper ‘How the Best Managers and Organisations Tap the Ideas of their Front Line People.’ Julian and Richer Sounds have also been mentioned in many business books.

The company has also received recognition from Business in the Community for its contributions to charity. Richer Sounds currently funnels 15% of its profits into charitable organisations, making it one of the most generous donators (in percentage terms) of any company in the UK.

In 2002, Richer Sounds was judged as the best British-owned company to work for by the Sunday Times. It has also been recognised by the government-backed Investors in People scheme.

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