TES, the Singapore-based parent company of IT refurbishment and redistribution firm Tech SI, has acquired the assets of defunct recycler Redeem Group, including the Envirofone brand, for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition will see TES enhance its mobile lifecycle offering by relaunching Envirofone, as well as incorporating other products such as laptops and games consoles into the brand.
TES is hoping to relaunch Envirofone later this month, with the immediate focus being on assisting customers whose business was affected by Redeem’s administration.
Envirofone will be based out of Tech SI’s Burntwood HQ. “As TES continues to grow, we’ll be looking to combine best practices between Tech SI, [online retailer] Stock Must Go, and Envirofone,” said Tech SI managing director John Paul Doble (pictured). “As business increases, it’s natural that so too will our staffing levels across all brands.”
Redeem went into administration last month, having frozen operations since March. In its last 12 months of business, Envirofone traded nearly 50,000 devices, paying more than £9 million back to customers.
Doble added: “Envirofone has a long-established history of being a premier brand that, coupled with TES’s infrastructure, will position TES to become a major player in the mobile retail space overnight for consumer take-backs and e-commerce sales in the United Kingdom.
“By aligning Envirofone with our existing retail returns and trade-in business, TES will be able to offer a wider range of consumer electronics products, including mobile phones, laptops, iPads and gaming products, in a single online platform, enhancing the customer experience and supporting TES’s core sustainability strategy.”
TES’ primary focus is to relaunch the Envirofone brand before it tries to re-establish any of Redeem’s previous B2B partnerships. Doble added that TES, which operates in 26 countries, would look to “deliver the Envirofone brand across TES’ global footprint”.
“The change in consumer habits over the past few decades continues to accelerate and evolve, emphasising the value of trusted online brands,” said TES Group CEO Gary Steele. “Envirofone is undoubtedly one of those brands, providing the platform and impetus that will fuel step-change growth for TES.”
TES did not comment on whether or not any of the staff that helped finalise Redeem’s administration would work under TES.
