MAD FOR IT!

Paul Butterworth is the manager of the Manchester city centre branch of Richer Sounds, Daniel Sait finds out how he goes about keeping its customers happy

- Daniel Sait

With some 13 years in business, in Richer Sounds' long history, this Manchester city center venue is relatively new. It enjoys a prime location on Deansgate and manager Paul Butterworth explains its unique approach: "As a nationwide company, we stock a vast selection of brands that can be bought in-store and online. While we supply the full range of Richer Sounds products, we have also built up a carefully curated collection of premium audio products.

"We work closely with these brands to ensure we receive only the best training, so we can offer the best technical advice."

Some of the brands the store now includes are: PS Audio, Scansonic, Analogue Audio, Unison Research, Leema Acoustics, Primare, Solidsteel, Mo-Fi, Dual, Thorens, Duevel and Matrix Audio, which is music to Paul's ears as his involvement in the industry goes back a long way: "Quite a while ago, my mum became a manager of a pub and I was asked to find a sound system. I couldn't believe you could pay £2,000 for a CD player that didn't even come with an amplifier or speakers! That's when I started to learn properly about hi-fi separates and invested in my own system a couple of years later. I joined hi-fi retail a few years later, working for a local store for a few years before moving to Richer Sounds, becoming the manager in 2018."