JOHN PORRETT Managing Director, Unique Magazines
How did you get into online retailing?
My journey started back in 2002 as a magazine buyer for a chain of newsagents. The role involved increasing awareness within the publishing world, to obtain more advertising spend in-store with listings and promotional opportunities. The stores were mainly Northeast and East Midlands based, at a time when it was early days of the internet regarding e-commerce.
I thought we could offer publishers a listing in-store for specialist magazines and visibility online. I quickly obtained over 500 listings to be added and promoted on a website we created in-house at £50.00 per magazine. Within weeks of launching, we were getting 20,000 plus visits per month, however, the customer could not order a magazine from the site and by the time we informed the publisher of the customer’s interest, it was too late (not very slick).
However, this gave us the confidence to build an e-commerce website for customers to order and pay at the same time. This was the start of my online retail journey, even if at the time I did not know it would come to be my life and dream.
It was many years later in 2009 that I decided to go alone and focus on building a business, and as a small team of four we very quickly turned Unique Magazines into a one million plus business.
Who or what inspires you?
I am inspired every day by other business owners that share their ideas and passion for their businesses. I am inspired by my grandchildren to enjoy life and have fun and I am inspired by members of the Unique team I work alongside each day.
I love ideas – good or bad – as they keep us engaged and passionate about what we do.
What advice would you give to anyone interested in getting into online retailing?
I would say you must have a passion for the product/products you want to retail online, make sure you use a reputable company to build your website (that is optimised for Search engines), do your research on your customer demographics and competitors, and make sure you offer brilliant customer service.
What is your favourite part of your job?
Obtaining new customers across the world and reading positive reviews about their Unique Magazines experience. Building a team of like-minded individuals who have a passion for magazines and customer service and forming new business partnerships with suppliers and business clients.
What has been your most memorable moment to date relating to your business journey?
There have been a few, the day my wife told me to follow my dreams and leave my full-time job (a belief I’ll forever be thankful for) to give Unique Magazines 100% of my time, getting through the pandemic and coming out of it a stronger business, relocating to a new office and distribution centre, every time a new person joins our team and when we reached over 100 countries worldwide where we have customers.
What are your favourite magazines?
I love magazines with a passion, the smell of the print, the feel of the paper, and the brilliant content. The titles I am currently reading are Northern Insight, Fast Company and Entrepreneur.
What’s the future hold for John Porrett?
With regards to Unique Magazines, it’s about making sure we have succession in place to continue growing the brand, improving our customer’s experience, and building on the foundations we have created. I am very excited to be looking at how we can expand by acquiring other online businesses that fit within our model. I am also keen to get involved with start-ups that are looking to launch an online e-commerce business.
