Charles Wigoder

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Charles Wigoder (born 2 March 1960), is an English telecommunications entrepreneur, most associated with the Utility Warehouse Discount Club

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Peoples Phone 1.2 Telecom Plus/Utility Warehouse 2 Personal life 2.1 Politics 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Biography

The son of The Right Honourable Lord Wigoder, QC PC^[1] (his children are entitled to use The Honourable title), Charles studied Accountancy and Law at University of Kent^[2].

Wigoder qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG in 1984 and was subsequently employed by Kleinwort Securities as an investment analyst in the media and communication sectors - where he met Michael Green. Green later hired Wigoder in 1985 as head of corporate finance and development at television company Carlton Communications, to accelerate growth of the organisation; but his two biggest deals - bids for Thames Television and BSkyB failed. He later joined property management company Quadrant Group.

[edit] Peoples Phone

Wigoder left Quadrant to set up Cellular Communications in March 1988, to sell mobile phones via retail shops. Wigoder rode the expansion in mobile phone usage within the United Kingdom, that by 1996 the renamed Peoples Phone had 400,000 customers and around 10% of the UK market - the biggest non-network owned retailer^[3]. However, Peoples Phone had generated a loss after taxation of £10.6M for the financial year ended 31 October 1995. On 20 November 1996 Vodafone acquired Peoples Phone (its biggest independent reseller) for £77M, quickly followed by competitors Astec and Talkland by December, in order to reduce its dependence on independent retailers. According to Vodafone 1997 annual report and accounts, Peoples Phone made £4.1M in the period to end 1996^[4][5][6] Wigoder pocketed £6.5M from the deal, as most of the company was owned by Venture Capital companies.

[edit] Telecom Plus/Utility Warehouse

Wigoder joined Telecom Plus in 1998, investing heavily and listing it as a Plc on the London Stock Exchange (ticker = TEP). Its initial flagship product was the Smart Box, a free gadget that plugged into a phone socket and hunted out the best telephone call rates^[7]

Wigoder didn't believe in expansive organisations to sell his products, but set up a multi-level marketing system of agents across the United Kingdom. In just over 7 years, the business amassed over 200,000 domestic and small-business customers, 15,000 of whom sign up new customers in return for a residual income and cheaper utilities. Trading as the The Utility Warehouse Discount Club, Telecom plus is a “virtual” retailer, and has no shops – just a call centre and 200 staff. Wigoder says: “The secret of our success has been our unique business model. We also have the ability to move quickly to take advantage of opportunities.”

Low costs allow Telecom Plus in theory to market at lower tariffs, which has driven average sales growth in excess of 20% over the years to 2005. The company and turnover expanded quickly, and Wigoder took home £3.4M in 2003^[8]. Wigoder's primary responsibilities today are marketing, carrier relationships and the strategic direction of the Company.

In November 2005, Telecom Plus warned that high energy prices had resulted in significant losses in its gas business. In February 2006, Wigoder sold 12.9 million shares in his personal holding in the company to nPower (equivalent to 19% of the company), as well as the entire supply side of the business, in light of mounting losses in the rising price energy market. Telecom Plus provide npower with management services, such as billing, customer service, metering, debt collection and administration (ie - the company retains the customer relationships), in return for a commission on energy used by the customers. The deal was made retrospective to 1 January 2005, and could result in npower controlling 29% of the company^[9].

On 6 June 2006 the group said losses experienced in its gas business during the first two months of 2006 reached almost £8m, off-setting the profits of £5.5m achieved during the first half-year. As a result of the losses, the group posted an overall pre-tax loss for the year of £1.6m, compared with the £10.5m profit from last year. Turnover rose 33% to £136.3m^[10].

[edit] Personal life

Married to Elizabeth, the couple have a boy (born 1989), and three girls (born 1991, 1994 and 1998). The couple have homes in London and the Cote d'Azur^[11]. An avid Contract Bridge player, and in 2002 won an international bridge tournament in Las Vegas.

[edit] Politics

Wigoder has supported the Conservative Party, and gave a direct donation to Liam Fox in his 2005 Leadership bid to replace Michael Howard, running against David Cameron^[12] He later lent the Conservatives £100,000 as a beneficial loan, as outlined in the 31 March 2006 statement by party chairman Francis Maude^[13][14]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Widoger Bio at Utility Warehouse
• Telecom Plus stock news at the Telegraph
• Widoger Bridge record at worldbridge.org