AO reviews

3.0

49% would recommend to a friend

(792 total reviews)
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John Roberts

51% approve of CEO

45% positive business outlook

AO has an employee rating of 3.0 out of 5 stars, based on 792 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have an average working experience there. The AO employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Retail and wholesale industry (3.5 stars).

Reviews by job title

792 reviews
5.0
May 20, 2026

Flexible work-from-home options, but pay lags behind

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Introducing more flexible working from home which is brilliant

Cons

Wage is higher elsewhere for certain roles

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AO Response
1w
Hi, thanks for reviewing AO! We’re always looking for ways to make it a better place to work for current and future AOers so your feedback is super important to us! We’re sorry to hear that you think we’re not quite hitting the mark on pay. Paying people fairly is super important to us, and we boost that with lots of different benefits too. If you like to share any more feedback we're always listening - please email peopleteam@ao.com. Thanks! AO
1.0
May 13, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Surprisingly decent office, with a salon and nice canteen. A lot of smart, supportive people. Great L&D team.

Cons

Head of department was a bully. This is widely known within the company, yet they continue unchallenged. I’ve never come across anything like it in my career. Very problematic hiring and management practices within the team. I saw multiple people fired or contracts ended early. I sat on an interview panel where nobody, inc the HoD, understood the role we were hiring for. HoD admitted to being “50/50” on the candidate, and hired them anyway saying “that’s what the probation period is for.” Multiple people have left the team for the same reasons, inc a senior hire who left within weeks of joining. Several managers, each with ~20 years of experience, have been on the receiving end of the same behaviour and report the same feeling where you doubt every decision you make and don’t know when you’re next going to be sworn at or publicly humiliated. The CEO is very anti-workers rights; you can hear this for yourself in his BBC interview. He also loves to threaten to fire people. He doesn’t trust people to work from home. There’s a myth about ‘AO speed’ which is just an excuse to bully people and make management feel special. In truth nothing moves very quickly because they scared of change. Lots of people who have never worked anywhere else and are very much big fish in a tiny pond.

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AO Response
1w
Hi, thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re sorry to hear that you didn’t feel your experience with AO was the best. While we recognise that individuals can have different perspectives, the comments you have raised are taken seriously and not reflective of the standards we expect. We have a number of established channels and processes in place to support AOers and to address concerns at the time they arise, including confidential routes for raising issues. We would always encourage AOers to use these while they are with us, so that matters can be properly reviewed and addressed. We are committed to maintaining a respectful and supportive working environment, If you'd like to discuss your feedback further, please email peopleteam@ao.com. Thanks, AO
1.0
May 4, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Work from home and minimal travel, people in the immediate team are great people.

Cons

Where do I start… if you want to want to keep your mental health good don’t ever question logic in decisions made by line manager or any decisions made elsewhere because they find ways to manage you out, the egos of managers is unbelievable. I’ve never worked at a place that made me question skills learned over a lot of years and verified by experts. The gas lighting and bullying by managers is rife. Company updates are just the CEO saying how good he is and how we all have to break bones to support that image. Honestly stay away!

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AO Response
1w
Hi, thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. We’re sorry to hear that your experience with AO fell short, this doesn't reflect what we aim to offer. We take all feedback seriously, and listen to all comments to maintain a supportive and respectful working environment. We have a number of established channels and processes in place to support AOers and to address concerns at the time they arise, including confidential routes for raising issues. We would always encourage AOers to use these while they are with us, so that matters can be properly reviewed and addressed. If you'd like to discuss your feedback further, please email peopleteam@ao.com. Thanks, AO
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Glassdoor has 856 AO reviews submitted anonymously by AO employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if AO is right for you.