| Family tragedy prompts major rethink
In the early 70’s when Es Watson came out of the army, he was determined to become his own boss and like all enterprising business men, he began searching for that elusive niche in the market place that he could exploit.
On leaving school, he had joined Forrest Wompra the renowned Middlesbrough photographer and received a first class grounding in all things photographic. But there were scores of photographers in the area, if he was to go it alone he had to develop his own unique selling proposition.
It was then that he decided to change his car, a decision that was to change his life.
“Buying a car invariably involves a part exchange deal, and I thought if this principle could work for the motor industry why not with cameras.” And so Cleveland Camera Mart was born, a business based on the concept of selling new equipment on the one hand, whilst offering a fair price for the camera the customer wanted to put in part exchange.
That word “fair” is the secret to Es Watson’s success. “We never ask customers what they think their equipment is worth, that way they can easily lose out. We tell them at the outset of our valuation, and often they are very favourably surprised by our offer”
It is a formula that has stood the test of time. Es opened his first shop in Linthorpe Road Middlesbrough 28 years ago and his marketing principle remains the same today. “We must be doing it right after all this time and our valuations must be correct otherwise we would have a mountain of second had equipment on our hands which has never been the case.”
The success of Cleveland Camera Mart was such that Es quickly opened shops in Newcastle Darlington, Harrogate and York. Then tragedy struck. Es and his wife Jeanne lost their only son when he was stricken with a fatal asthma attack.
“Suddenly I realised how much business demands had intruded into my family life to the exclusion of my children, and overnight I decided there were more important things in life than empire building. I effectively gifted the shops to my managers at Newcastle, Harrogate and Darlington, and my son-in-law now runs the York shop.”
Together with his daughter Debbie who joined the firm at the age of 16, and wife Jeanne, Es is now only concerned with the Middlesbrough operation. His younger daughter 22 year old actress Andrea, who has appeared in shows such as Last Of The Summer Wine, also helps out when she is “resting”.
“We have come full circle” says Es. “We are once more a family business in every sense of the word.
This article originally appeared in the June 1999 issue of Now
& Then Magazine
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