Carphone Warehouse

Company Details

We’d like to take you back to 1989. A time when technological dinosaurs roamed the earth. Not only wasn’t there any wi-fi or GPS. There wasn’t any Internet. The iPhone wasn’t even a twinkle in Steve Jobs’ eye. Mobile phones cost more than £1,000 apiece, weighed more than an encyclopaedia, and had less than 20 minutes’ talktime before the battery ran out. When it came to practical, usable mobile communications, carphones reigned supreme. Because you needed a full-sized car to take the weight of the battery.

That’s the world we were born into. Started by two friends – one of them being Charles Dunstone - with £6,000 of savings, and based in a rented flat. And right from our conception in 1989, we believed in thinking and acting far ahead of our time. Our ethos was all about offering customers unbeatable service, along with the finest technology on the market. And as the market evolved at a dizzying rollercoaster speed we were right there keeping pace with it, going from our first store in Marylebone to new ones outside the UK in Paris and Dublin.

Since then, it’s fair to say we’ve come a pretty long way. Today we’re Europe’s largest independent phone retailer, with over 800 stores and 8000 people. But our underlying business philosophy and basic principles haven’t changed a bit. Now as then, it’s short, sweet and simple. Looking after the customer. And being a great place for good people to work.

Our People

There’s no single, generic ‘type’ that does well here. We’re all individuals, with our very own personalities, talents, interests and ambitions. Having said that, we’ve got a fair few things in common. From the newest starter on the shop floor to the most senior figure in the boardroom, every single one of us believes in the same things. We’re all about making our customers’ lives better through technology. We want to help them make smarter comparisons and decisions that bring them real value.