STICKING AROUND! CLARION AT 35!
Stalwarts of the UK ICE aftermarket, Clarion GB first opened for business thirty five years ago. The start of a fresh decade in 1980 was greeted with the launch of a memory aid that has literally stuck with us ever since the humble but globally famous Post-It Note. But in the South West of England, 1980 was equally noteworthy in business terms for Clarion as its UK subsidiary was established in Swindon, Wiltshire.
Remarkable in its own way as an epicentre of the UK railroad industry a century ago, the Wiltshire town’s links with transport were strengthened further with the opening in April 1980 of the new UK head office in Faraday Road, Swindon of Clarion Shoji Co., Limited.
Hot property in early 80’s UK motoring was the arrival on the road of the high performance hatchback, with the now legendary Peugeot 205 GTI taking centre stage alongside the equally muscle-pumped first generation Volkswagen GTi.
This ‘˜hot hatch’ duo led a growing performance motoring culture that Clarion and its expanding UK dealer network became very much a part of in the UK. As the need for speed grew, so too did the market for customising, of which a beefed-up audio system was high on the enthusiasts’ shopping list.
Clarion grabbed the opportunity with open arms, and very much geared up with a widening range of aftermarket product to appeal to the customising clan.
The formula helped them prosper and build a bigger team and, by 1988, Faraday Road was incapable of housing the fast-developing business. So, in October that year, they moved to a far bigger headquarters in Hillmead, a suburb of Swindon, where the management of the time had a major say in the design of the building.
General Manager of Clarion GB, Graham Case – who started at the company in 1983 as an Area Sales Manager – commented: ‘The 1980’s and 90’s were a great period for us as the whole aftermarket was growing so fast. I remember we celebrated the new building and the Clarion culture with a giant Japanese garden and koi carp pond and waterfall in the central atrium! No car audio brand had anything close.’
The new building enabled Clarion GB to really flex its muscles, the facility including a substantial manufacturing area.
‘It’s odd to think that in those days, we had no internet and no e-mail.’ Graham continued, ‘Mobile phones arrived in 1985 but at around £3,000 a go – that’s getting on for £8,000 in today’s money – they weren’t exactly common. But as a consequence, in those days we did a lot more direct talking to our market. I must say that despite all the other ways of communicating at our disposal, I believe that talking face to face is something we all need to get back to in order to help build relationships, which makes the whole enthusiast market tick.’
The 90’s and start of the new decade was also the period Clarion GB took to the road to promote at an ever-growing scale of enthusiast car shows as modifying culture continued to grip the nation’s enthusiasts.
‘It was such a energy-fuelled time – the bigger, the wilder, the louder the better. We and competitor brands all had major event rigs and show cars making a massive noise and impact. Lights, sounds actionwe had the lot.’
Big Rig.
Huge Woofers called THUNDERDOME!
‘It was a really significant period in so many ways. I remember we had dancers performing on the Clarion roadshow rig at events in the 90s and it’s as if overnight, in front of us there was a sea of young guys taking pictures with their mobile phones, which by now were taken as everyday. That really was the start of a new era in connectivity, which is now so much a part of Clarion’s DNA and indeed all our lives.’
Today, Clarion GB is based in fresh headquarters a few miles from Swindon, in Royal Wootton Bassett, where it moved to in 2013. The workforce has, on average, eighteen years of working with the company, which says a great deal about the strong family ethos nurtured and enjoyed by Graham and the team.
A thriving R&D and engineering development department continues to be a significant resource at the new Clarion GB HQ and the design engineering of the CZ505E, for UK and international markets, speaks volumes for their capability.
Today, thanks to its diligence, consistency and professionalism, Clarion GB has the distinction of being one of the few in-car entertainment brands that has supported and successfully contested the UK aftermarket continuously since it started.
Continuing to promote aftermarket product and its dealer network, the company also launched last year the first-ever official Clarion online shop selling the entire UK product range. Unlike conventional e-commerce, the shop benefits Clarion’s appointed dealers by channelling the on-line transaction offers to them as a new business stream. Pay the shop a visit at Clarion
So, moving ahead, will Clarion GB ever be as famous as the Post-It Note? ‘That could be tricky’ says Graham, ‘but we’re most definitely be up there with it in terms of sticking around!’
