ISmash

iSmash
IndustryElectronics & technology repair
FounderJulian Shovlin
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Area served
United Kingdom
Number of employees
200 (2018)
Websiteismash.com

iSmash is a high-street technology repair service, specialising in fixing smartphones, tablets and computers.[1]

History

iSmash was founded by Irish entrepreneur, Julian Shovlin, in 2013 to provide a same-day service for common smartphone repairs.[2] The idea originated from Shovlin's own negative experience having his phone repaired, and wanting a solution for fixing damaged technology.[2] Whilst a Business and Economics student at Trinity College Dublin, Shovlin set up his first repair shop at age 19 and invested £15,000 of savings in the business.[3][4] This was later followed by a further £900,000 investment of seed money by angel investors.[5]

Stores

The first iSmash-branded store opened on the King’s Road, London in 2013.[3] Since then, iSmash has opened 29 high street, shopping centre and train station locations across the UK, including London, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, Brighton and Sheffield.[6][7] When the Trinity Leeds store was opened, it caused some confusion with an existing iPhone and iPad repair shop called iPatch[8] (founded in 2008), who deal exclusively with Apple product repairs. In Kingston upon Thames, the market for smartphone repairs, including services provided by iRepair Zone[9] (established in 2013 and specializing in iPhone and Samsung repairs), faced new competition with the entry of iSmash.

A nationwide 50-store expansion began in 2018 and as of May 2021, 31 stores are open in total. Currently the company has a 3.7/5 ratings review on careers website Glassdoor and 67% of responding employees would recommend working at iSmash to their friends and 83% approve of the CEO.[10]

References

  1. ^ "Meet the entrepreneur who built a £13m phone business in four years". Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  2. ^ a b "Entrepreneurs: The iSmash founder rescuing Londoners in a fix". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  3. ^ a b Frean, Alexandra (2017-06-19). "Smashing the market for smartphone repairs". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  4. ^ Armstrong, Ashley (2014-12-20). "The young entrepreneur ready to make millions from broken phones". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  5. ^ "Shovlin advising his son's fast-growing iSmash firm - Independent.ie". Independent.ie. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  6. ^ "Student's smashed smartphone led to iSmash success". UKFast. September 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  7. ^ "iSmash Review – The Best Way To Fix Your Banged-Up Phone". Know Your Mobile. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  8. ^ "Open Graph Title". iPatch - Apple Device Repairs in Leeds. Retrieved 2021-04-30.
  9. ^ Silva (2024-05-30). "Healthy Competition in Kingston upon Thames | iRepair Zone vs iSmash".
  10. ^ Yaqoob, Muhammad Hamid. "iSmash Reviews". Glassdoor. Retrieved 2024-05-28.