10 January 2013

This morning AOP President Simon Leach was invited by BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme to comment on yesterday's news that high-street camera retailer Jessops has gone into administration.

In a package which included comment from reporter John Douglas and customers on the scene in the Jessops central Manchester store, Simon's live interview with main presenter Winifred Robinson gave some context to the problems Jessops has experienced.

Simon commented, "There's a variety of reasons why this has happened…online sales, different brands selling kit who aren't specialist photographic retailers, the emergence of tablets and phones for pictures of holidays or family…

"It's a really sad loss for photographers, Jessops is a known brand on the high street...as professionals there are always people we can go to and we know a lot ourselves but if you're just getting started it's important to be able to get advice on which kit is best for you rather than just looking at the specs and numbers on the internet." 

At the time of writing it is still not clear how many of the stores will close and whether Jessops will be picked up by another company as a going concern.

The You and Yours programme is available online for the next few days.