Comet (retailer)

Comet Electricals Limited (trading as Comet.co.uk) is a British online electricals retailer and a former electricals retail chain. The company sells consumer electronics and white goods, along with other related products and services. The company was formed in 1933 by George Hollingbery as a business charging batteries for customers on a weekly basis. The business grew and diversified into radio rentals, and the first electricals store opened in the 1950s. Comet expanded during the 1960s and 1970s, and became a publicly listed company in 1972. In 1984, the Hollingberry family sold the business to Woolworths Group (later Kingfisher plc) in 1984, who later sold it to Kesa in July 2003. In November 2011, private equity firm OpCapita purchased Comet for a token £2 following sustained losses, later placing it into administration. The 240 stores and stock was liquidated and closed by 18 December 2012, with 6,500 staff losing their jobs. In August 2020, after nearly eight years of dormancy, Misco revived the Comet brand as an online-only retailer. In May 2025, the Comet brand was acquired by OnBuy, with plans to return in late 2025 as an online electronics marketplace, following a £10m investment. Comet was reverted back to its pre-2010 brand.