Business

Peter Jones buys American Golf as Dragons’ Den star expands retail empire

Published

5 hours ago

4 February 2026

Peter Jones buys American Golf as Dragons’ Den star expands retail empire

Peter Jones has added the American Golf chain to his growing business empire, snapping up the UK’s largest golf retailer in a deal that marks a new chapter for the loss-making brand.

The Dragons’ Den investor, a keen golfer who is said to play off a handicap of eight, has agreed to acquire American Golf from private equity group Endless, which has owned the business since 2018. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

Founded in 1978, American Golf operates more than 80 stores across the UK and employs over 1,000 staff. The retailer sells clubs, equipment, clothing and footwear from leading brands including TaylorMade, Callaway, Titleist and Nike, and generates annual revenues of around £135 million.

Despite its scale, the business has struggled to return to profitability, posting losses of £5 million last year following a £5.5 million loss the previous year. Jones is understood to see significant potential in strengthening the chain’s digital and online offering as part of a wider turnaround strategy.

Jones, whose portfolio also includes the Jessops camera chain, said the acquisition had personal as well as commercial appeal. “Golf has always been a personal passion of mine, so acquiring American Golf feels especially meaningful,” he said. “It’s a brand that truly understands golfers, from beginners to seasoned players, and has played an important role in the UK golf community for decades.”

American Golf’s chief executive, Nigel Oddy, said the deal would support the company’s long-term growth ambitions. “Joining forces with Peter Jones marks an exciting new chapter for American Golf,” he said. “It will enable us to continue to accelerate our growth strategy and further our ambition of becoming the ultimate one-stop destination for everything a golfer requires.”

Oddy also thanked Endless for its backing over the past eight years, during which time the private equity firm invested in modernising stores and supporting the brand through a challenging retail environment.

David Isaacs, managing director at Endless, said: “We are incredibly proud of American Golf’s evolution during our ownership and to see it go from strength to strength with a clear trajectory for future growth under Peter’s stewardship.”

The deal underscores Jones’s continued appetite for well-known but underperforming consumer brands, particularly those with strong communities and opportunities to scale online.

Jamie Young

Jamie is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, bringing over a decade of experience in UK SME business reporting.
Jamie holds a degree in Business Administration and regularly participates in industry conferences and workshops.

When not reporting on the latest business developments, Jamie is passionate about mentoring up-and-coming journalists and entrepreneurs to inspire the next generation of business leaders.

Business

PAMT CORP: Pain Is Likely To Continue Near-Term (Downgrade)

Published

4 minutes ago

4 February 2026

NewsAdmin

PAMT CORP: Pain Is Likely To Continue Near-Term (Downgrade)

Business

From Pixar to Disney+: The $100-billion blueprint behind Bob Iger’s Disney

Published

12 minutes ago

4 February 2026

NewsAdmin

From Pixar to Disney+: The $100-billion blueprint behind Bob Iger’s Disney

When Bob Iger was promoted to chief executive officer of Walt Disney Co in 2005, he took over a company that was an undeniable force in entertainment and theme parks, but badly in need of rejuvenation.

In one of his first moves, Iger made Disney shows like Lost and Desperate Housewives available for sale on Apple ‘s iTunes platform, ushering in the unique idea of watching TV online. Three months later he bought Pixar from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. That $7.4 billion deal was an eye-popper, paving the way for blockbusters like Cars and Inside Out that reinvigorated Disney’s animated film business.

Those early moves hinted at key parts of Iger’s strategy: acquire marquee entertainment franchises and find new ways to exploit them. As he prepares to hand the reins next month to his successor, theme-parks chief Josh D’Amaro, Iger leaves a legacy that includes snapping up the biggest brand names in Hollywood via more than $100 billion in mergers and acquisitions, expanding in China and building a streaming business that delivered $24.6 billion in revenue from people watching movies and TV shows online last year.

“That’s one huge insight of his,” said David Collis, an executive education fellow at Harvard Business School who has written about Iger. “If you own these incredible entertainment franchises, any device only increases demand for your content.”

More deals followed Pixar, including Marvel Entertainment and its stable of superheroes, Star Wars-parent Lucasfilm and the $71 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019, which brought in franchises like The Simpsons and Avatar.

“The deal we did for Fox, in many ways, was ahead of its time,” Iger said this week on an earnings call when asked about Netflix’s pending acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery.
Those acquired characters and stories found their way into Disney’s theme parks. In 2013, when the company first began exploring a Star Wars land for the parks, Iger told his designers, “Be the most ambitious that you have ever been,” Bob Weis, the longtime head of Disney’s parks design business, recalled in his 2024 autobiography.Iger was also keen on international expansion, green-lighting the $5.4 billion Shanghai Disneyland. Before its 2016 opening, Iger flew to China on a nearly monthly basis to monitor its progress, according to Weis.

The same year the Fox acquisition closed, Iger launched Disney+, the company’s flagship streaming service, the company’s response to the growing dominance of Netflix in online viewing. Providing a new outlet for programming that ran on networks like the Disney Channel was a threat to the company’s lucrative cable-TV business, but in the end, Iger relented.

Disney+ was a hit from the start. Ten million customers signed up the first day, driven by programming such as the Star Wars-spinoff The Mandalorian. The company reported 132 million Disney+ subscribers at the end of its latest fiscal year.

TV Star
Iger has spent his whole career in the TV business, rising up the ranks at ABC and performing every task, from getting a bottle of Listerine for Frank Sinatra before a TV special to scheduling the 1988 Winter Olympics. He was considered a likely CEO of broadcaster Capital Cities/ABC until that company was acquired by Disney in 1996 and he had to start clawing his way up the corporate ladder again.

When a shareholder revolt finally prompted the retirement of Disney CEO Michael Eisner in 2005, Iger got his shot.

More than 20 years later, the worst grade on Iger’s corporate report card likely comes in succession planning. Multiple extensions of his contract over the years led senior Disney executives to exit. When he finally stepped down for the first time in 2020, his handpicked successor Bob Chapek proved to be disappointment.

As Iger prepares to pass the baton to D’Amaro on March 18, he leaves plenty of work still to be done. On the recent earnings call, Iger said he hoped his replacement would carry on with his focus on reinvention.