About our Founder
Thompson Pianos was imagined, created and brought to life by Ross Thompson.
Ross is from a family business background and started working at a local piano company in 2010 after finishing his A-levels.
Ross started off in the workshops, cleaning and polishing all the used pianos, before they were sold to their new owners. As well as becoming an experienced polisher, Ross also became adept in the art of moving pianos. Recognising most pianos are a customers’ pride and joy, Ross felt it was important to be able to move them correctly, to ensure he avoided any damage; a skill he is still proud of to this day.
After a year in the warehouse and being a “jack of all trades”, Ross’ personnel management and social skills were spotted, allowing him to move into a showroom environment. As delivering exceptional customer service was extremely important, Ross soon got to work brushing up on his customer facing skills.
With Ross now in a sales environment, pianos were soon being sold to all areas of the UK and Ross’ reputation was quickly gathering pace within the industry. Ross continued down this path for the foreseeable future.
In 2014 Ross was lucky enough to be invited by Yamaha to take a trip to Japan and visit Yamaha’s factories in Hamamatsu and the wood cutting facility in Kitami. This was a great opportunity to meet Michihiko Yamada (President) and glean essential information about all of Yamaha’s products. The trip also included visiting Yamaha’s factory in Jakarta, Indonesia. Here Ross was able to see where Yamaha’s entry level instruments are manufactured and catch up with Yoshihiro Shiiya (President Director).
In 2015 Ross was off again but this time visiting the Shanghai music show in China for the first time. This was essential for business growth, as meetings with international suppliers from all over the world were taking place and it also afforded Ross the opportunity to meet new business partners and embrace new cultures.
During 2016-2019 Ross continued to grow the premium piano range for the family business and helped obtain a dealership for new Kawai & C.Bechstein acoustic pianos. This soon became extremely successful and brought an increased demand for premium instruments to the business. These were also years in which Ross also attended the annual Frankfurt messe music exhibition in Germany, visited the C.Bechstein factory in Schandorff and the W.Hoffmann factory in the Czech Republic.
Between the months of April 2020 – January 2021 things were extremely different due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Having seen what this terrible disease can do first hand, Ross decided life was too short and decided to follow his dreams of owning his own business. Ross is a real family man and feels a certain sense of pride in going it alone during what have been and continue to be, very uncertain times across the world. Ross is so excited about being able to grow Thompson Pianos.
2021 is the year everything started to happen! Ross decided to resign from his job and pursue his own business and Thompson Pianos was launched! A bespoke company website has been created, business relationships have been formed and a holding warehouse sourced. Thompson Pianos provides the best quality instruments at the most affordable prices and also works closely with piano teachers and piano tuners within the Midlands to ensure all customer needs are met. Pianos are being delivered into customers houses across the whole of the UK and the positive feedback that is being received is quite overwhelming.
2022 – THE BIG ONE! Thompson Pianos purpose-built showroom in Worcestershire was built, housing around 50 acoustic pianos under one roof for customers from all over the UK to come play. We supplied nearly 150 pianos across the music industry via our wholesale channel.
2023 – We became Yamaha UK's main dealership, selling new Yamaha digital pianos around Worcestershire and surrounding areas. Towards the end of 2023, we are excited to announce we are also becoming a proud partner of ‘Yamaha Music Schools’ and will be offering piano lessons from our state-of-the-art custom-manufactured piano booth. We have been hugely encouraged by the number of piano teachers and piano tuners who now recommend our showroom to all their students and clients.
Ross says:
“I created Thompson Pianos because I wanted to be able to offer everyone who has a desire to play the piano an affordable instrument, irrespective of background or ability. My belief is that no one should be put off by the price; I strongly believe there is a piano out there to suit everyone’s taste and budget. I’ve made this option an ever-increasing reality by introducing our revolutionary ‘Rent to own’ service.
Here at Thompson Pianos I wanted to create a relaxed family friendly atmosphere, that delivers accurate information and advice. I am creating a business that all pianists can rely on, knowing that we will be here for years to come to look after all their servicing needs. We are in this for the long run and aren’t going anywhere!"
Ross Thompson – Founder ‘Thompson Pianos’
Stay tuned for some exciting news later in 2024!