JES, 30 years in duty free
1995: 1st April, JMS was registered by current owner Tim Jobber (Linkedin here) in Dusseldorf, Germany, specialised in duty free representation for brands wishing to enter into, or expand within, the NATO forces in central & southern Europe, in addition later to conflict zones in the Middle East, and the former Yugoslavia. On the same day JMS signs it's 1st commercial representation agreement with Goldstar Europe, later known as LG Electronics followed shortly afterwards with Pioneer Europe and Dutch based Dufri International for multiple global brands including exclusive representation for the opening launch of Apple iPods .
​​​​
1997: 1st duty paid warehouse opened in Viersen, Germany handling after sales on behalf of consumer electronic and household brands such as Sony, Philips, Hitachi, Goldstar (LG) and Pioneer.
​​​​​
1999: Exclusive agreement with the British government military retail operation NAAFI in 1999 to open a bonded duty free warehouse in Monchengladbach, German / Dutch border for logistical support to 13 NAAFI stores and their Belgium distributor for the former Yugoslavia. Brands included Apple, Olympus, Fuji, Wharfedale, Maxi Muscle.
​​​​
​2003: Re-branding to JES as the client portfolio grew and contracts expanded from the original military forces retail business model to a more export based clientele.
​​​​
2009: Reductions in military bases within Germany results in the closure of the duty free warehouse as JES returns to a more traditional representation model.
​​​​​​
2011: Tim Jobber took up a senior management position within UK based Whitehouse Travel Retail (part of the Whitehouse Leisure Group LLP) handling brands such as McLaren, Ted Baker, Haribo, Disney in addition to in-house travel retail exclsuive brands Adorn, GR8 and Kroc.
​​​​​
2015: Re-branding to JES Travel Retail (Consulting) (Jobs) as travel retail becomes the core business for the organisation.
​​​
2016: JES Travel Retail becomes a co-founder of the travel retail agency network International Brands Group (press release) with partners in UK, Switzerland, Mexico, India and the US.
​​​
2017: JES Travel Retail Consultancy clients win both travel retail "Best Confectionery & fine food" and "Best wine product" categories in the prestigious GTR awards in Cannes, France and "Best Wine & spirits product GTR The Americas" as part of 17 GTR finalist positions throughout Europe, The Americas and Asia Pacific.
​​​
2020: JES Travel Retail launches a free "Cannes info & tips" page, the only source of independent consolidated information connected to the TFWA World Conference and Exhibition in Cannes. The page remains live from 1st July through to the end of October each year.
​​​​
2021: JES Travel Retail took over full control of Internatioan Brands Group and began incorporating its business model into the JES Travel Retail Consultancy business model.
​​​
2022 : JES Travel Retail Jobs launches a unique travel retail exclusive job board platform, the only such site that promotes multi sector vacancies dedicated solely to the travel retail sector, view the boards here.
JES Travel Retail clients win the prestigious global travel retail Frontier Awards for "Best confectionery & fine food" with Love Cocoa from James Cadbury and "Best wine product" with VSPT Wine Group (side note : VSPT Wine Group wins the "Best wine product" category in the Frontier awards again in 2025 ).
​​​​
2023: JES Travel Retail signed an agreement with established travel retail agency Exclusive Brands International (EBI), an organisation that celebrated its 20th anniversary in duty free that year, to merge the EBI portfolio and client base into JES Travel Retail.
​​​​​​
​2024: A travel retail "Talent Pool" of TR experienced job seekers was launched to assist industry members with a free platform to promote their jon search and for recruiters to have a free referral service - the only such free service in global travel retail sector.
​​​​​
2025: JES Travel Retail begins a partnership with Amsterdam based duty free experts TRID bv (www.tridbv.com). Following the success of the Cannes Information page (see 2020) the concept was expanded to include a Singapore trade fair from 1st February 2026 and also provide the GTR sector with an open source of information for all major GTR shows and events, available here.
​​
... many thanks to all the retailers, brands and partners who, without their trust and support, we would have not been able to reach such important milestones ... here is to the next 30 years !​​
​​​​
​​​
​​​​