He said he wanted a role he could really sink his teeth in.
Maplin Electronics CEO ups stakes for steak house
Maplin CEO Oliver Meakin has quit the troubled geek emporium to run the Gaucho Group, a chain of Argentinean steak houses. Meakin took the helm at the Brit electronics retailer in August 2015, a little more than a year after current private equity owner Rutland Partner bought the company for £85m. “Oli has been instrumental …
COMMENTS
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Thursday 4th January 2018 11:42 GMT Davegoody
It's a crying shame......
Maplin (though horribly overpriced sometimes) have been a source for quick and easy electronic components since I was a kid (and I am an old-fart now). Of course, if you can afford to wait, then ordering from Tat Bazaars such as FleaBay etc is infinitely cheaper, but for convenience you can't beat Maplin on the high-street.
Over recent years the quality of their staff, and their competitiveness has improve immeasurably, and it will be a real shame for this remnant of my childhood to go the same way as Tandy / Radio Shack did, though I can't see it NOT happening now, it's almost a foregone conclusion.
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Thursday 4th January 2018 12:43 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Can I be a CEO in my next life?
Yeah, from his linkedin profile pic, he looks like the classic maplin employee. Disappointingly, he's an old Etonian, Bristol uni, Social Science Economics and Politics (shame, and only Atilla honours). Then management consultancies, Somerfields (which was a great success), a restaurant chain or two, then maplins. So he has got a bit of restaurateur in him. Seems like a jack of all trades master of none to me. Possibly his talent is finding the escape pods, before he's jettisoned into the void of the cosmos.
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Friday 5th January 2018 13:39 GMT Anonymous Coward
El palacio de las Malvinas
I heard that the last CEO of that chain of "Argentinean steak houses" got into trouble after he decided to distract hordes of angry shareholders away from his own failings by invading Falkland Palace in order to open a branch there without permission.
It did not go well.
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Thursday 4th January 2018 12:33 GMT TWB
Maybe Maplin will close this year, hopefully not just before Christmas which seems to be a 'popular' time for some of these big organisations.
It'll be sad and I'll be sorry for the staff, but I cannot see how it can keep going with staff costs and high street rents and rates etc - there is only so much tat that people want to buy.
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Thursday 4th January 2018 13:12 GMT phuzz
They do sell tat, but they do also sell a bunch of other kit, mainly components, that people would want to buy if they weren't cheaper online.
Mind you, when it's a choice between buying it from China via fleabay and waiting two weeks, or walking ten minutes down to Maplin and paying 120% of the price to get it now, well, then you have to decide how much you want that cable/converter/component etc.
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Thursday 4th January 2018 13:42 GMT djstardust
Hmmmm
Oli has been instrumental in the repositioning of Maplin as a differentiated technology retailer and the board and I would like to express our sincere thanks for his leadership
Or as customer see it ......
Oli has forced the business towards bankruptcy by charging obscenely high prices for cables and by filling the shelves with smart home guff and cheap Chinese crap nobody wants.
FTFY
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Thursday 4th January 2018 14:03 GMT SquidEmperor
Re: Hmmmm
"..Oli has forced the business towards bankruptcy by charging obscenely high prices for cables and by filling the shelves with smart home guff and cheap Chinese crap nobody wants..."
THIS. I feel sad for the staff and support teams but I cannot see how Maplin can possibly survive. My most recent trip to Maplins (which was in the City btw - how can they afford the rent?) for a phone charger almost took my breath away. They seem to target distress buyers who are willing to pay a massive mark up for immediate satisfaction.
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Thursday 4th January 2018 14:53 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Hmmmm
"They seem to target distress buyers who are willing to pay a massive mark up for immediate satisfaction."
Yup, I'm a victim of that. Bought an OEM CPU by mistake, no heatsink/cooler. This was for a replacement home server - the existing of which had died spectacularly - so getting this new server up ASAP was top priority. Which is why it now has a £50 water cooler from Maplin.
Which reminds me I really need to check the operating specs on that, it can't have a lot of life left in it being on 24-7 and if Maplin aren't there next time...
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Thursday 4th January 2018 18:04 GMT Niall Mac Caughey
Re: Hmmmm
Definitely time to check.
The bearings failed on the fan in my wife's graphics card. Perhaps I should say the graphics card in my wife's desktop PC; although she definitely has a very effective sound card.
Anywhichway, I was near a Maplins, so I bought one of their white box fans. Lasted around 15 months.
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Thursday 4th January 2018 13:43 GMT PACEY
Maplin is forever
Oli is a former colleague of Gaucho's new chairman Paul Mason, who was chief executive of retailer Somerfield while Meakin was a strategy, business development and business systems director. He has also previously headed up Miller & Carter, a steakhouse under the Mitchells & Butlers umbrella.
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Thursday 4th January 2018 14:38 GMT Aebleskiver
RIP Maplins...
At least one branch of Maplins I know has got rid of its electronic components inventory and now they have to order in from central warehouse for anything in that category, so it has turned into a shop stocking almost 100% tat. I used to remember going past the old Maplin HQ in Westcliff-on-Sea (where R&D and support were done too) and also loved popping into the Maplins Westcliff shop in the 1990s, but sadly it is now a shell of its former self...
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Friday 5th January 2018 18:45 GMT Roq D. Kasba
Re: RIP Maplins...
There's practically nothing on the components front left - I got a 50p connector for £3 the other day because I needed it, but resistors, capacitors seem to be sold in multipack bags for £ouch too.
They're taking the route of The Gadget Shop, to a similar event horizon I'm afraid.
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Saturday 6th January 2018 10:44 GMT Anonymous Coward
My first job was at Maplin in the 90's
Out of Uni with knowledge of electronics and computers, we had a great little store helping people fix these things. They were never going to sustain a retail outlet on components, so expanded into car audio, RC gear, computer components and more. Whilst they were never the cheapest or fully stocked, there were some real gems at good prices and special orders arrived within a day or two. This is before fast internet and ebay/amazon, so they had an edge.
It's amazing to me it has survived so long, given how most electronics are unrepairable sealed units nowadays and kids have no interest in fixing or making stuff now.
Hobbyist makers use arduino or raspberry pi kit - Maplin should have been all over this as a retail hobbyist supplier but they missed the boat completely. This was always their problem - led by incompetant management at the top.