Television firm Freemans celebrates 50 years in Portishead

Five decades of providing high-quality technology for people was marked by a Portishead business last week.

Television and audio engineer Cliff Freeman opened a store on The Triangle, West Hill in Portishead on January 20, 1967, where he sold and serviced black and white televisions, radiograms, record players, cassette recorders and radios.

When the first colour sets arrived in 1968, they were priced at 350 guineas. As few locals had that money to spend on home entertainment, Freemans started renting colour televisions to people and soon had more than 1,000 rental customers.

The business moved to its current home in High Street after eight years and has since experienced dramatic changes in both products and technical development. Cliff retired in 2010 but ownership of the business remains in the family.

Freemans has always traded on its reputation for quality and service and offers highly competitive prices along with superb sales service.

Liam Sagar and Jason Bamfield lead the team who are dedicated to providing a high standard of personal service to customers.

Sales manager Jason said: “Many independent television retailers have closed because they did not adapt to a changing and challenging market.

“With our pro-active approach we are striving to provide the best customer service and products at very competitive prices.

“We are at the forefront with new products such as Sky Q for ultra-high definition now in-store and a new range of Panasonic and Sony OLED ultra-slim displays arriving soon.

“Many other exciting developments and launches are also on the way to ensure Freemans will be celebrating another 50 years of trading.”