A new but familiar brand comes with a surge in innovation investment for digital, stores and colleagues, to help everyone enjoy amazing technology
- Currys PC World, Carphone Warehouse, Team Knowhow and Dixons Carphone become one brand. Unveiled today, launching October 2021
- The move makes things easier for customers who can now interact with one brand when choosing, affording and enjoying amazing technology
- Currys is more than just a new name, with a surge of innovation investment* making the experience even easier for customers who want to shop both online and in stores
- Becoming one brand will be a big moment for Currys colleagues, united as never before and energised by major upgrades to stores, vehicles, uniforms, tech and more
Currys is a new brand with a familiar name and a bold new look, committed to making it even easier for everyone to enjoy amazing technology. Becoming one brand means customers can turn to Currys for all their tech needs, interacting with Currys colleagues in stores, online, over the phone and on the doorstep.
The first new-look store was revealed today in Edinburgh, transformed inside and out, along with new eye-catching uniforms and vehicle liveries. The uniforms include improvements on fit and wearability, and the liveries include designs for the brand’s new all-electric vehicles.
Currys inherits a unique customer offer. Customers are helped by thousands of expert colleagues nationwide, in-store or via ShopLive, a 24/7 live video shopping service. People can get the tech they want almost immediately by popping into store, or by ordering online and then collecting from store, often just an hour later. And when they do drop in, customers can access the entire online range, not just the stock that’s in that store.
- Currys is more than just a new name. This milestone is part of a recently announced £190m* surge in innovation investment in 2021/22, a focus of which is to make shopping with Currys even easier for customers. These transformational changes include:
- Talk tech with tech people: The retailer will invest nearly £25m over two years in skills, wellbeing and reward programmes for colleagues. This will enhance the experience for customers, in store and via ShopLive, the 24/7 live video shopping service. Currys will also launch RepairLive – a market leading, virtual repair service to help get tech up and running again without the need for a home visit, currently being piloted.
- Online made easy: A new Currys website will launch, hosted on a cutting-edge cloud-based platform enabling better content, more personalisation and a slicker, quicker experience. Colleagues’ tablets, which give customers in store access to the extensive online range, will be upgraded to a new platform offering enhanced information, tailored offers and an easier shopping experience.
- See it. Feel it. Try it: Currys PC World is known for being the place to try out the latest and greatest tech before you buy. Currys will make that possible for an even wider range of tech, for example powering multiple smart products in stores for the first time and upgrading content on interactive customer-facing digital screens, uniquely showcasing how products work – e.g. the steam function of washing machines.
- Get your green on: Currys colleagues will be given new tools and training to help customers understand the environmentally sustainable choices on offer. That includes helping customers consider a repair rather than an upgrade, and when new is needed, it means explaining the trade-in and recycling options.
- Tons of top tech: Currys will continue to offer a huge range of the latest and greatest technology from the biggest brands. That includes a new mobile offer, launching later in 2021, a combination of handsets, connectivity and ways to spread the cost that take transparency, flexibility and value for money to the next level for customers.
Four brands becoming one means over 300 stores will be transformed, 13,000 colleague uniforms upgraded and over 300 vehicle liveries changed. The transition from Currys PC World, Carphone Warehouse, Team Knowhow and Dixons Carphone to Currys starts now and will be complete by October 2021.
Alex Baldock, CEO of Dixons Carphone, said:
“Today is a big day for us, as we become one brand – Currys.
“Above all, we’re doing this for our customers. They’ll see that it’s Currys, the number one, helping them from toasters to tellies, laptops to laundry, fridges to floorcare, mobiles to music. They’ll see it’s Currys’ experts who help them choose, afford and enjoy their tech to the full. It’s Currys which helps them get the most out of the tech they already have, giving it longer life as well as bringing them all the exciting new stuff.
“Choosing Currys as the brand was a no-brainer. Since Henry Curry first started helping everyone enjoy the amazing technology of his day - the bicycle - in 1884, Currys has been the best-known and most trusted brand in tech. Currys will have a bold and up-to-date look and feel, but this is a gearshift not a facelift. Our recently announced surge in innovation investment in colleagues, digital and stores is a winning formula that our competitors can’t match and will strengthen our position as market leader.
“And we’re becoming one brand for our colleagues too. We’ve worked hard to become one joined-up business and becoming Currys reflects and accelerates that.
"We’re on a roll, and we’re going for it. We’re joining up our stores ever better with our strong online business, we’re investing hard, including in our brand. We’re winning with customers, and we reckon the year ahead will be our most exciting yet and today’s big announcement is just the beginning.”
-ENDS-
*As announced in Dixons Carphone’s Pre-close Trading Update on the 28th April 2021
For more information, please contact:
Dixons Carphone press office: [email protected]
M&C Saatchi Talk: [email protected]
About Dixons Carphone
Dixons Carphone plc is a leading omnichannel retailer of technology products and services, operating through 864 stores and 16 websites in eight countries. We Help Everyone Enjoy Amazing Technology, however they choose to shop with us.
We are the market leader in the UK & Ireland, throughout the Nordics and in Greece, employing over 22,000 capable and committed colleagues in the UK & Ireland and approximately 32,500 globally across the Group. Our full range of services and support makes it easy for our customers to discover, choose, afford and enjoy the right technology for them, throughout their lives. The Group’s core operations are supported by an extensive distribution network, enabling delivery to stores and homes, a sourcing office in Hong Kong and a state-of-the-art repair facility in Newark, UK.
Our brands include Currys PC World in the UK & Ireland as well as Carphone Warehouse and iD Mobile in the UK, where our services are provided through Team Knowhow; Elkjøp, Elgiganten and Gigantti in the Nordics; and Kotsovolos in Greece.
In October 2021, Currys will increase the minimum rate of pay by 9% for 12,000 hourly paid frontline UK colleagues to £9.50 per hour, aligning our pay to that set by the Real Living Wage Foundation.