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Radio Rentals was formed in 1930Radio Rentals Staff Handbook in Brighton, Sussex, UK to rent out radio sets by Percy Perring-Thoms with a turnover in the first year of £780 (). It later offered televisions and ultimately video recorders for rent. In 1964, it merged with RentaSet, Joseph Robinson's similarly formed company. Then in 1968, it was acquired by
Thorn Electrical Industries Thorn Electrical Industries Limited was a British electrical engineering company. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, but merged with EMI Group to form Thorn EMI in 1979. It was de-merged in 1996 and became a constituent of the FTSE 100 ...
and joined with Thorn's DER chain (founded 1938) as part of Thorn Television Rentals (TTR) though the two companies were run completely separately with different staff and vehicles. In 1980, TTR and thus Radio Rentals became part of the merged
Thorn EMI Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Comic ...
, and in 2000 it merged with Granada Limited to form
Boxclever Boxclever (styled as “boxclever”) is a British electronic and domestic appliance rental chain that was founded in 2000 by the merger of Radio Rentals and Granada Rentals. The company originally operated through high street stores but later ...
. The company still trades as Radio Rentals in Australia.


United Kingdom

Radio Rentals operated mainly in the UK, having started life in Boyces Street
Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
, Sussex, England. Growth of a public television service after the war encouraged more people to want TV sets but they were expensive, leaving an opportunity for companies like RR to offer them at a monthly rental price which was much more affordable. With the coming of colour services, initially only on BBC2, a further opportunity for renting was created. On 15 November 1969, colour broadcasts on both
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
channels and the
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
network became available from the main transmitter sites around the UK. This led to a boom in rental of TV sets. By the late 1970s, video recorders had appeared on the market but were expensive. Only 5% of UK households had video recorders in 1980. Radio Rentals elected to offer Baird branded
JVC JVC (short for Japan Victor Company) is a Japanese brand owned by JVCKenwood corporation. Founded in 1927 as the Victor Talking Machine Company of Japan and later as , the company is best known for introducing Japan's first televisions and for ...
VHS machines from 1977 onwards. With the advent of satellite broadcasting in the 1980s, Radio Rentals offered a range of equipment for rent, enabling more viewers to watch both Sky Television services and
British Satellite Broadcasting British Satellite Broadcasting (BSB) was a television company, headquartered in London, that provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom. They started broadcasting on 25 March 1990. The company was merged with ...
services (these broadcasters were later to merge and form
British Sky Broadcasting Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...
). They also offered a small range of
white goods A major appliance, also known as a large domestic appliance or large electric appliance or simply a large appliance, large domestic, or large electric, is a non-portable or semi-portable machine used for routine housekeeping tasks such as cookin ...
, mainly from Philips/Whirlpool. At its peak, Radio Rentals claimed it had more than 2 million customers, over 500 shops and employed 3,600 technicians, 2,700 skilled installers plus a large ancillary staff. They had sales and service locations across the UK, the RR logo being a common sight on many
High Street High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
s. The urge to rent instead of buy reduced as domestic electronics became cheaper and more reliable, with greater use of
integrated circuit An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
s and improved design. The company went through many restructures, shedding staff and rebranding itself. In common with other rental brands, it could not sustain a viable
business model A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, social, ...
and has ceased to trade, merging with Granada Limited's rental arm to form
Boxclever Boxclever (styled as “boxclever”) is a British electronic and domestic appliance rental chain that was founded in 2000 by the merger of Radio Rentals and Granada Rentals. The company originally operated through high street stores but later ...
.


Oceania

Thorn operates over 90 Radio Rentals stores within Australia, and 28 stores in
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
under the name DTR. Radio Rentals stores in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
trade under the name RR Rentlo Reinvented due to an independent business trading as Radio Rentals. An independently owned chain operates 19 stores within
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
; however is not in any way related to Radio Rentals owned by Thorn Australia Pty Ltd. The Australian branch of Radio Rentals began in 1937 with the opening of a single store on Market Street, Sydney. Since this date, Radio Rentals continued to expand and open stores across Australia, including the launch of 'Rentlo' in South Australia. In April 2015 Rentlo was rebranded to RR Rentlo Reinvented. Radio Rentals is a household appliance, technology and furniture rental service. Today, Radio Rentals and RR Rentlo Reinvented have more than 90 stores Australia wide and more than 500 employees. The Australian stores continued to trade under the Thorn Group, with James Marshall as the current CEO and managing director, appointed in 2014. On 23 April 2020, due to the COVID-19 induced retail downturn, Radio Rentals announced the permanent closure of its 62 bricks-and-mortar stores and selected warehouses, continuing as a purely online business. In 2008, the Thorn Group, who operates Radio Rentals, launched Big Brown Box; an online retailer of brown goods and consumer technology gadgets. The site later expanded to include computers and whitegoods. Thorn Group decided to offload the business in November 2010, with the CEO, John Hughes, saying that while Thorn Group "still believes strategically in online and the potential of BigBrownBox.com.au" the company had to take a pragmatic view on the business given the group's limited resources. Big Brown Box was later purchased and relaunched by
Appliances Online Appliances Online is an online retailer for white goods and home appliances that is based in Sydney, Australia. The company is a subsidiary of the family-run Winning Group, which includes Winning Appliances, Winning Services and Home Clearanc ...
.


Centrepay controversy

In 2015, a report by Credit Suisse found that for the financial year 2014/15, A$90 million of Radio Rentals and RR Rentlo Reinvented Australia's total revenue of A$197 million came from payments made by government benefit recipients using the Commonwealth Department of Human Services direct debit Centrepay system. The report also stated that around half of this amount, approximately A$45 million, related to the purchase of entertainment items such as smart phones and televisions.


See also

*
BrightHouse (retailer) Caversham Finance Limited, trading as BrightHouse, was the largest rent-to-own company in the United Kingdom, with 240 stores. It was a national chain that provided home electronics, domestic appliances, household furniture and related produc ...


References

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External links


Radio Rentals Australia
Electronics companies of the United Kingdom Electronics companies of Australia Electronics companies established in 1930 1930 establishments in England 1980 disestablishments in England Defunct companies of England Electronics companies established in 1937 Australian companies established in 1937 Privately held companies of Australia British companies established in 1930