Source Distribution is one of the leading and most highly respected pro audio technology distributors in the United Kingdom.
The company is a part of the HHB Group, founded by Ian Jones in 1976 and since then has been dedicated to delivering the latest and most innovative pro audio equipment solutions. HHB Communications works with the UK’s top broadcasters, recording studios, post facilities, and system integrators. In 2004 the company opened Scrub in W1 to better facilitate the needs of London’s fast growing post-production market. In 2006, Source Distribution was created to manage the distribution of products into Consumer, M.I. & Pro Audio Retail.
Source is currently the exclusive UK distributor of 15 major pro audio and music technology brands; all of which rely on its proven sales record, its extensive marketing activities, veteran sales and purchasing teams, and busy events calendar. This is all backed up by a hugely experienced in-house support and service department, operating from a modern 10,000 square foot warehousing, logistics and office facility in West London.
Source is proud to report continual year-on-year growth, with high staff retention and an excellent and close working relationship between the UK dealer network and our suppliers.
WHAT WE DO
STRONG MI AND PRO AUDIO DEALER NETWORK
Source has circa 175 active dealer locations, which include premium commercial relationships with Gear4Music, PMT (Professional Music Technology), guitarguitar, Music Matter, Andertons Music, GAK, KMR Audio, and Funky Junk amongst many others.
Source Distribution operates a selective dealer agreement for individual brands, enabling a focus on core requirements such as display stock, marketing activities, and branding expectations from both brand/Source Distribution and the dealer. Importantly our current agreement is in line with the very latest EU trading guidelines.
AMAZON EXPERTS
We are an experienced Amazon supplier for the UK and EU markets with full access to Amazon Vendor Services. We possess in-depth knowledge of the Vendor Central platform and have extensive experience of their marketing services. Our logistics and finance teams understand how to meet the expectations of this significant trading partner.
CONSUMER AND PHOTOGRAPHY PRODUCTS DEALER NETWORK
Source maintains premium commercial relationships with Amazon, Jessops, CVP (Creative Video Productions), Warehouse Express Ltd, Camera World Ltd, and more.
EU OPERATIONS
With comprehensive warehouse and logistics facilities located in the Netherlands, Source is able to provide full Pan European logistics services.
PRODUCT RESEARCH & MARKET EXPERTS
Source Distribution directors, area managers, sales advisors and brand managers are all active musicians with decades of industry experience within the UK market. As such, our staff are an exceptionally valuable resource and are regularly consulted by our brands during product research, development, release and marketing – Source staff are end users ourselves, but we also know what makes products successful in the UK marketplace.
GUITAR WORKSHOP – THE BOATYARD
Source have recently partnered with a local workshop of luthiers in order to meet the needs of UK guitar distribution. The Boatyard have a team of craftsmen who can be assigned to work in tandem with Source’s temperature-controlled warehouse for quality control checks and guitar set-ups.
DIRECTORS
Ian Jones
Managing Director
Ian is the Managing Director and Founder of the HHB Group which launched Source Distribution in 2006. He has dedicated his long career to developing the Pro Audio and Music Technology business in the U.K. and beyond and is a well-known industry veteran.
Darren Power
Commercial Director
Darren brings over 35 years of industry experience, joining Source following an extensive career at Yamaha, culminating in his role as European Director of Yamaha Music Europe’s Professional Music Division, having developed an exceptionally strong and proven management record.
Jonathan Burrows
Sales Director
Joining the company in 2008 from Akai/Alesis/ Numark as Area Sales Manager North, Jonathan Burrows now leads the sales team in the UK and Ireland to an exceptionally high standard. Jonathan is responsible for the smooth running of Gear4Music, consumer electronics accounts and the Source sales team.
SALES TEAM
Chris Hawkins
Southern Area Sales Manager
Chris Hawkins joined Source at its very inception and brings over two decade’s proven experience in sales and music technology, responsible for maintaining and growing key accounts in the South of the UK.
Matt Reay
Northern Area Sales Manager
In addition to MI retail, Matt’s background also includes sales, marketing, and product specialist roles within distribution covering UK & EMEA territories. He joined Source in 2022 and is responsible for managing accounts in the North of the UK and ROI.
MARKETING TEAM
Source Distribution features a dedicated and close-knit three-person marketing department. Our marketing Manager works closely alongside two dedicated Brand Managers, each looking after a selection of Source brands. The team manages an extensive program of activities, including an industry-leading Global-facing YouTube video channel, combined with one of the strongest print and digital marketing budgets of any UK distributor. Our in-house graphics and video production capabilities allow us to create our own content – from full-page advertisements to web banners and exhibition graphics, to add value to all of the brands that we represent. In conjunction with our sales team experts, the department pro-actively maintains a schedule of regular public-facing shows and events throughout the calendar year.
Alex Smith
Marketing Manager
Alex Smith manages and furthers all of Source’s broad marketing activities according to a yearly plan. This includes maintaining multiple social media channels, advertising, and events schedules, facilitating electronic mailouts and a myriad of other ongoing activities and projects on a daily basis, working closely with Tom, Perry, and our distributed brand contacts.
Tom Lewis
Brand Manager
Tom has spent many years in the UK MI sector working for some of the biggest names in the industry. With a diverse career that’s covered everything from Sales, Purchasing, Accounts, and Content Creation, Tom’s skill set coupled with an encyclopedic understanding of Synthesisers and music production techniques makes him the perfect fit to manage RØDE and our portfolio of Synth brands.
Adam James
Consumer Accounts & Brand Manager
Adam has over 10 years of sales experience in MI/Pro Audio retail. Shortly after joining Source from his role as Sales Manager at Studio Spares, Adam was made responsible for managing consumer product accounts and is our Amazon account manager amongst others.
PURCHASING TEAM
The Source Purchasing Department has a reputation for reliability, timely orders, prompt payment, excellent attention to detail, and a wealth of experience handling complex international logistics. They take pride in providing an efficient service to both internal and external stakeholders.
Rebecca Woolf
Purchasing Manager
With 20 years of experience in the MI/Pro Audio industry, 13 years of those at HHB/Source, Rebecca heads up the purchasing team to an exceptionally high standard. Rebecca handles the buying for RØDE Microphones, Genelec, Moog, Arturia, Eventide, Lynx, and Expressive-E.
Tom Gallagher
Purchasing Administrator
Tom completes the team with excellent buying skills and unparalleled administration support, particularly focused on complex import admin. Tom handles the buying for Coles.
ON-SITE SALES TEAM
Source features three dedicated and friendly on-site Sales staff members each with extensive industry and professional customer experience skills. The team is on-hand to receive calls and place, manage and maintain tight turnaround for orders covering the entire UK and Ireland dealer network. The sales team all have their own passions within music technology allowing them to give genuine personal insight when dealing with dealer staff.
Sheila Synnott
Order Fulfilment Manager
With 15 years in the Pro Audio/MI industry and 13 years at Source, Sheila leads our sales administration team to a very high standard, often commended by our dealer network. Sheila is the central contact point for all sales, shipping and customer service. She also liaises with the warehouse team to ensure speedy dispatch of customer orders. Sheila is also a qualified guitar luthier and has a degree in Musical Instrument Technology.
Tom Mortimer
Sales Adminsitrator
Tom came to Source from one of the UK’s largest dealers, Andertons, and has over 8 years of experience in the MI industry. Alongside his role in sales administration, Tom also regularly assists with trade shows, dealer events and helps in the service department. Outside of work Tom is involved in promoting club nights and building sound systems, plug-in development, and modular synthesizers. His music tech and synthesizer knowledge make him an invaluable resource for telephone tech support.
Matt Taylor
Sales Administrator
Matt also came from a background of Pro Audio retail, with 5 years of experience specialising in consumer advice and administration. His current roles include day-to-day sales operations and assisting with dealer demonstration stock. Matt is also a performer/ songwriter and performs at various venues around London.
IN-HOUSE MARKETING
POS, DEALER TRAINING & VIDEO COLLABS
Source supports its dealer network via the provision of manufacturer point-of-sale materials where provided, and also designs, creates or commissions custom solutions where off-the-shelf solutions are not available. These have included one-of-a-kind custom wood and metal-worked display stands with associated props and branding, vinyl banners and slatwall branding, branded clothing, assorted merchandise and more.
Every Source brand and area sales manager has both extensive experience working in retail and maintains an active music-making discipline, and so are able to offer in-person training to retail staff that is engaging, relevant, and truly helps sell the product more effectively. Source trains staff in-store during regular site visits, as well as hosting several dedicated all-day training events in Source’s in-house facilities throughout the year.
In a recent poll following a day-long in-house training event, 100% of attendees said they would recommend Source Distribution training events to a colleague. Source works closely with dealers to support and facilitate third-party product videos – by commissioning or guest-presenting content with Andertons Music, Gear4Music, PMT, GAK, Scan Pro Audio and more.
YOUTUBE, DEALER & PRESS COMMUNICATION &
SOCIAL MEDIA
Source Distribution produces engaging and creative demonstration and educational videos in-house, as well as working with media partners to commission videos externally. Source’s own YouTube channel is one of (if not the) best-performing YouTube channel of any distributor in the World. It features nearly 14,000 subscribers and 4.6 million views, with largely in-house generated product intros, tutorials, interviews, and demos made with a very high standard of engagement, and to exceptional user feedback. In several instances, the Source Distribution video has become the best performing video on YouTube for that product.
Source have extensive email mailing lists covering both our network of dealers as well as all major UK press outlets and independent bloggers & influencers. Source marketing send out over 120 email mail-outs every year covering product releases, promotions and other important information that our partners require.
Source features by far the largest social media following of any UK distributor with over 12,300 likes on Facebook and nearly 5,000 followers on Twitter. Our social media audiences are fully engaged and create an invaluable insight into our consumer base as well as a platform to host all of the content that we produce. Source invests in a program of paid content boosting on Facebook and actively explores new platforms in order to maximise reach for new products, promotions and content.
PRESS, EVENTS & ARTIST RELATIONS
Source invests heavily in both print and digital advertising, featuring in many major publications including Sound on Sound, Music Radar, Tech Radar, T3, Digital Camera, PC Gamer, Audio Media, Guitar Interactive, Music Tech, Resolution, Future Music, Guitarist, Pro Moviemaker, Sonic State, and Photography News, among others. Source also enjoys extensive review coverage in all of the above.
Source has a presence at every major industry event in the UK and many internationally. This includes all major trade shows, consumer shows as well as product specific demo events both for consumers and industry professionals alike. Source also hosts events either in our own facilities or runs clinics and workshops in partnership with members of our constantly expanding dealer network.
The Source marketing team regularly collaborates with a roster of top UK artists and influencers. Projects have included interviews, product demos, studio tours and performances. We value the relationship we have built with these communities very highly and are always looking for new ways to work together in promoting the products we distribute.
WAREHOUSE, LOGISTICS & LOCATION
Source’s modern facility in Sunbeam Road, NW10 contains 10,000 square feet (approx. 930m²) of capacity, including a new split-level warehousing facility, dedicated department offices, meeting and equipment demonstration spaces.
The facility is strategically located in close proximity to the major A40 trunk road and North Circular ring roads, allowing regular and efficient international freight delivery access as well as being well served by local rail and bus networks.
Source are experienced shippers with dedicated warehouse staff and logistics managers, highly experienced in fulfilling accurate shipments to the entire UK dealer network as well as the most demanding clients, including regular scheduled fulfilments to the thirteen Amazon distribution centres throughout the UK.
SERVICE AND SUPPORT DEPARTMENT
Source’s dedicated London-based Support and Hardware Service Department is available to both our dealers and customers, offering easy and experienced telephone and web-based product support, warranty and non-warranty servicing on all distributed products. The department prides itself on fast and efficient turnaround, friendly service and support.
EXTENSIVE CENTRAL LONDON TRAINING & DEMO FACILITIES
Source’s parent company HHB continues its commitment to providing its broadcast customers with ability to experience and demo the latest equipment in an exceptional listening environment. A newly designed demo space and training room in North West London is shared by HHB and Source. These spaces allow for product training for large groups as well as for customers to compare multiple loudspeakers on the fly and discuss emerging technologies and workflows. At the heart of the demo room is a Studer Vista Black edition console which feeds a Genelec 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos system, allowing customers to experience AOIP solutions for modern broadcast applications.
Source sister-division Scrub has recently completed construction of a new World-class product demo facility directly in the heart of Central London, available as a private facility for talks, events and product demonstrations relating to Source’s partner brands. Located at Wells St London, just off Oxford Street, this facility features the highlight of an 7.1.4 Dolby Atmos system comprised of 7 industry-leading Genelec 8351B studio monitors alongside the Avid S6 control surface, and doubles as a training facility and private demo facility for major Source Distribution dealers and clients in the heart of London.
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