John Roberts (born 1973) is a British businessman, entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of

AO World AO World is an electrical retailer based in Bolton, England. It operates in the United Kingdom (ao.com), and previously operated in Germany (ao.de) and the Netherlands (ao.nl), specialising in household appliances and electricals. It is listed o ...

, an online retailer specialising in electrical goods, and supporter of youth charity OnSide Youth Zones.

Early life

Roberts grew up in Bolton. He went to

Bolton School Bolton School is an independent day school in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It comprises a co-educational nursery, co-educational infant school (ages 3–7), single sex junior schools (ages 7–11) and single sex senior schools including sixth fo ...

, and earned eight

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

s, but failed his A-levels in maths, geography and economics.

Career

Roberts started his career as a waiter and kitchen salesman. In 2000, he founded Appliances Online, after a friend bet him £1 to set up a business. In 2014, Roberts led AO World’s listing on the London Stock Exchange, valued at the time at £1.2 billion. In May 2019, the ''

Sunday Times Rich List The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday news ...

'' put Roberts' wealth at £210 million. In February 2017, he stood down as CEO of AO World, and was succeeded by

Steve Caunce AO World is an electrical retailer based in Bolton, England. It operates in the United Kingdom (ao.com), and previously operated in Germany (ao.de) and the Netherlands (ao.nl), specialising in household appliances and electricals. It is listed o ...

. Two years later, in January 2019, AO World announced that Caunce was stepping down as CEO, and Roberts was reassuming the role. Roberts has said he built AO on his two personal mottos of ‘treat every customer like your gran’ and ‘make your mum proud’ In September 2021, Roberts was listed 30 in the ''Financial Times'' list of the UK’s Top 100 Entrepreneurs. He won the ''This is Manchester'' Supernova Award in 2018 and the ''Retail Week'' Retail Activist Award in 2020.

Philanthropy

Roberts has been a supporter of

Bolton Lads and Girls Club Bolton Lads and Girls Club is a youth club and registered charity based in Bolton, Greater Manchester. It is one of the largest youth clubs in the United Kingdom, with a membership of over 4,000 young people. Based in Bolton's town centre, the ...

for more than 25 years. In 2016, Roberts and his wife Sally gave £1.5 million to OnSide Youth Zones. He has been a Trustee of the charity since 2015. In 2020, he pledged to give OnSide Youth Zones his £20 million bonus if the AO Value Creation Plan pays out. He says he gives most of his salary to charity.

Personal life

He is married to Sally Roberts, they have five children, and live in Bolton. It was reported that he will not allow his children to work for the company, nor will they inherit, and is "considering putting his wealth into a charitable trust".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, John Living people British chief executives British retail company founders 1970s births People from Bolton People educated at Bolton School