John Phillip Preston was a giant in the video retailing business but his success came with a dark secret, he had known for a few years after his first heart attack at the age of 57 that he had taken on his fathers (Horace Preston) genetic life limiting heart problem.

John was on a long list for a heart transplant but unfortunately passed away at the beginning of July before reaching the top of the list.

From HD Warrior 2010 “On my way back from Coventry last month I took a slight detour to see H Preston Media in Malvern. I was met by Mrs Preston and Graham, John and the two Andy’s were still packing the van at the end of ProVideo 2010. I have known John Preston for the best part of twenty years and have been buying and exchanging kit all that time.”

“It’s important to realise that Preston’s are a Sony Specialist Dealer and hold a Panasonic Broadcast account, this takes Preston’s miles above the internet box pushers as Preston’s only sell UK/European stock. Many of the substandard box pushers sell American or Japanese camcorders and that’s important if anything goes wrong…NO ONE will entertain you if you buy a camcorder that is not UK/European in origin. Preston’s will only give technical assistance to genuine customers and I can personally vouch for this…many end users are only too grateful for a person on the other end of the phone at 7pm at night going over a technical problem with them…you do not get that level of service from saving a few pounds at the box pushers web site”

I had never been to the Preston shop in all that time and decided this was the year to do so. Preston’s as it is known affectionately is tucked away under the Malvern Hills and is a lot posher than I was expecting, I had envisaged a wee grungy shop in the middle of a busy high street with boxes and kit all over the place.

It is a very clean, modern shop and lots of bits and pieces to look at with a 65″ Panasonic 3D Plasma television sitting proud at the front of the shop (Remember this was 2010). Up until October I had mainly delt with the shop staff over the telephone with two people in particular, Mrs Preston and Graeme of whom I had never seen in all my 20 years of trading with them, though Graeme being one of the newer members has only been around for about 6 years.

The Malvern team consists of John, Mrs Preston, Andy Davis, Andy Guest and Graeme and me in Glasgow.

John man’s the London branch at least 3 days a week when time allows…I am the newest member of the team in our Glasgow office and I am part time due to work commitments and serve as their technical and web manager.

Working as a DP/Editor allows customers to have the confidence they can speak to someone who knows the game from the coalface and my 25 years professional experience in the video industry won’t go to waste.

I had a lovely 2 hours at Malvern meeting Mrs Preston, Chelsea (the dog) and Graeme…Preston’s is unique in video retail as they have a great work ethic and a great family run business, I know of no other video retailer that has been around for well over 20 years and still employ the same friendly staff as Preston’s do and that’s to be commended in these hard times. (2010).”

John was the first video retailer to introduce the “Part exchange scheme” allowing video producers like myself to upgrade from last seasons kit to the most up to date kit.

Jump to 2021 the year of the Pandemic, Prestons were almost out of the game as the pandemic hit all video companies hard, including my own very badly. No one was filming except TV companies but as we all know TV stations do not upgrade kit in a regular fashion and usually involve the camera makers direct for the best deal.

John was an astute businessman and directed his web site to the things that he knew would sell during a period of lockdown like E bikes etc. Many of his “fellow video followers” thought he was going mad but it kept his business alive.

Andy Guest was last man standing at Preston’s when John died so with consultation with Mrs Preston they decided to pull the web site meantime. All the phones are off and a decision has still to be made if the business is still viable. There will be customers stuck in the middle of all this but as you can imagine, no one knows when your final day on earth is going to happen so please be patient.

From Johns Family “We Are Extremely Saddened To Announce the passing away of John Phillip Preston on the 19th of June 2024. The family are busy arranging Johns funeral at the moment and would like to offer any of Johns loyal business associates to attened the funeral on the 17th of July at St Mary The Virgin Church, 35 Madresfield Malvern, WR135AA.

We kindly request that the family are given time to grieve. From a business prospective please can we ask that all our customers and suppliers be patient with us over the coming weeks.”