About us
It’s been quite the journey so far
We’ve grown from a £1 bet to big business. Yep. You read that right. Over a drink in a Bolton
pub, John Roberts bet his friend that there was a better way for people to buy electricals online.
Since then, we’ve hit some pretty big milestones…
2000
A £1 bet started John Roberts on his mission to sell appliances online
2004
Retailers asked us to sell white goods under their brand names to their customers; Sainsbury’s became our first client
2009
We bought a logistics business to give customers incredible delivery options and service
2012
Appliances Online became ao.com
2014
AO floated on the London Stock Exchange and became proud sponsors of Bolton Lads and Girls Club (BLGC)
2016
We launched AO Finance to give customers better access to essential electricals through flexible finance
2018
We opened our own state-of-the-art recycling centre and completed the acquisition of Mobile Phones Direct
2021
AO Arena opened its doors!
2022
We became proud sponsors of four times Netball Super League champions Manchester Thunder!
2024
We became proud sponsors of Altrincham Football Club
The UK’s most trusted electrical retailer
At AO, we want to make sure our customers are happy. When they have a smile on their face,
we know we’ve done a good job and that’s at the heart of everything we do. And well, we’ve
put lots of smiles on our customers’ faces!
Did you know we have more 5* Trustpilot reviews than any other UK electrical retailer? We’re rated ‘Excellent’ overall and have 600k customer reviews!
And it’s no different for AOers, because together we can do extraordinary things. We know that
our AOers love our culture, people and values and we have over 1500 Glassdoor and Indeed
employee reviews too!
Love AO
AOers are the kind of people you want on your
team – not just for the job, but for the journey.
We’re driven, supportive, and always make sure
we’re doing the right thing to get the best
results.
We create opportunities to be the best
we can be and embrace the possibilities to
make a difference. AOers bring their brilliant,
authentic selves to work, and that’s our key to
success.
We work at pace, together, to get
results. We’re passionate about what we do and
push each other to make decisions that would
make our mums proud. We have fun along the
way too, always celebrating our wins.
Not just a job
We genuinely care about each other and our
impact on making customers lives easy, by
helping them brilliantly. Our managers are
supportive and always there to listen, and we
make sure everyone has got what they need to
feel their best.
We have support groups,
wellbeing access and benefits to help you be
your best self – at work and beyond. We’re
passionate about learning, growing, and
getting better together.
Everyone here knows
how their role makes a difference to our
success, and we’re always ready to share what
we know, to help each other improve.
AO story & trust
Trust is at the heart of everything we do. With
25 years behind us, we’ve built a reputation as
the UK’s most trusted electrical retailer, and
that’s thanks to the trust we place in our
people.
We’ve earned a strong Trustpilot rating
because our customers know they can rely on
us, and that same trust flows through
everything we do internally. We believe in giving
our team the autonomy to make decisions. It’s
this trust in each other that helps us move
quickly and make the right choices, knowing
we’re all pulling in the same direction.