Hughes Hits the Road to Celebrate 100 Years!

Hughes Electrical is hitting the road as it celebrates its 100th anniversary!

To mark this milestone, the company has recreated a 1950’s Bedford van, complete with TVs, washing machine, cooker and radio of the period, which will be touring the country visiting its shop locations.

The van will be at Hughes Store in Felixstowe on 11 September, where the public will be able to come and see for themselves and also have a chance to enter a free competition to win one of 100 prizes such as televisions, game consoles, computer tablets and much more.

The company has come a long way since Frank Hughes, a WW1 veteran, founded it in Lowestoft in 1921 to sell and repair radios.

Chairman Robert Hughes, Frank’s grandson, said: “It is interesting to see on Frank’s first business card the address was given as ‘Service House’. This shows how important service was to us from the very beginning and is something that has remained constant for those 100 years.

“In the 1950’s we had expanded beyond our Lowestoft base and into the growing TV market such that by the 1990’s we were one of 22 specialist electrical retail chains in the UK.

“Now we are one of just three – such is the change the industry has seen, fuelled by supermarkets, the internet and rising shop rents and rates.”

The Hughes Electrical of today is firmly founded on four pillars: its 32 retail shops in seven English counties; the www.Hughes.co.uk website; Hughes Rental with over 100,000 customers and the business-to-business operation, Hughes Trade.

Robert Hughes added: “While the business is unrecognisable from the one my grandfather founded, two things have remained constant; our focus on customer service and family ownership.

“We genuinely try to put people first, be it customers, colleagues or suppliers. We also try to uphold family values in how we deal with people as their loyalty has helped us reach this landmark.”