Phones 4u is buying Dial-a-phone, marking a significant expansion of the high-street retailer into direct sales via phone and on-line.

Dial-a-phone runs a couple of websites and a phone-line ordering service out of Kentish Town and Northampton. Its 300 staff sold over 120,000 contracts in 2007. But that's small potatoes to Phones 4u, with its 440 high-street shops and online sales operation.

No financial details of the deal are available, but Phones 4u intends to keep the Dial-a-phone brands (Dial-a-phone and Mobile Express) operating. Some staff, no doubt, will be synergised out of a job, but there are apparently no plans for a big cull.

The deal is expected to complete by the end of the month, upon completion of the mandatory staff consultation. ®

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