Our Story

In 1941, Ken Sargant, left school at 15 and found work in a London drawing office. His team were told they were to design concrete barges for the transportation of wheat, but it later emerged that these barges were in fact constructed for the Mulberry floating harbour – assembled as part of the follow up to the Normandy landings during World War II. 

At 17, Ken volunteered to join the RAF, but was later demobilised because, being a draftsman, his skills were needed to help with the post-war rebuilding of London.

After the war, Ken became a certified architect and managed to scrape together enough money to buy a drawing office in Reigate, which he imaginatively named Reigate Drawing Office – marketing was never his strong point!

The business started out printing architectural plans and selling office supplies locally, but in 1961 Ken wanted a washing machine. Being the shrewd businessman he was, he opened a business account with AEG so that he wouldn’t have to pay full retail price.

After a few weeks using the machine, Ken’s wife (Patricia) suggested that he buy another AEG washing machine and put it up for sale in the office. Ken freely admits he thought it was a silly idea at the time, but decided to give it a go anyway.

Unsurprisingly (well, to Patricia at least) the AEG washing machine was sold the same day it was put on display and, after this happened a few times, Ken realised there was a market for discounted kitchen appliances.

In 1963, Ken hired a young man called Michael Jenns – who was with RDO for 46 years!

Despite being hired as a draftsman, it quickly became apparent that Michael was an exceptional appliance salesman.

Michael started ordering appliances by the dozen and, because there was no space in the shop, could often be found standing outside trying to sell appliances to passers-by!

In 1977, Roger Sargant (Ken’s son) joined the business straight from school.

Michael mentored Roger, teaching him the art of sales and retail. Together, they began opening accounts with more manufacturers, focussing on buying appliances in bulk so they could offer larger discounts to their customers.  

For many years RDO didn’t have proper storage facilities, but by the early 2000s, the situation with storage had become untenable. Roger invested everything he had into purchasing a warehouse for the business, a move which allowed RDO to grow rapidly.

In 2014, Roger decided to diversify the RDO brand by entering the luxury kitchen design market. This move led to the total renovation of the Reigate showroom, which, of course, was designed by Ken Sargant at 88 years young!

The company has since gone from strength to strength, offering its services nationally and winning a number of prestigious awards including ERT's national large retailer of the year, showroom of the year and website of the year.

In 2017, Chris Sargant (Roger’s son) joined the business straight from university and has since focused on growing the business to reach new customers across the nation.

Today, Roger and Chris run the business, supported by an immensely talented team.

Ken still pops in from time to time and, even at the young age of 97, enjoys having his say about the business!