Seven British PC makers that went bust

Success within the technology industry is tough, even more so for British PC manufacturers.

Low margins, poor decisions and an economic downturn in the early noughties have each taken their toll, causing prominent companies to falter, and ultimately meet their demise.

Including once high-profile names such a Tiny Computers and Evesham, here’s our list of the seven British PC makers that didn’t make the cut.

Evesham Technology

The Worcestershire-based manufacturer, founded in 1983, was one of the first big players in the UK PC scene. By 2007, it had more than 300 employees and had grown to sell a wide range of peripherals and home entertainment kit.

Evesham bet heavily on the Labour Government’s Home Computing Initiative. Its sudden cancellation in 2007 left a £30 million hole in the company’s forecasts.

Evesham went into administration in August 2007, but struggled on as Geemore Technologies until February 2008.

Dan Technology

This London-based manufacturer was a respected, award-winning PC builder, noted for its high build quality and customer service.

Dan went into receivership in June 2002. The brand name was picked up by Stone Computers a month later, but is no longer used.

Watford Electronics

Founded in 1972, Watford Electronics went on to become a successful UK reseller and PC manufacturer. As Savastore it became one of the UK’s first big online electronics stores in the late 1990s.

Savastore went into administration in February 2007, and the business was purchased by Globally Ltd, a company run by former Watford Logistics manager, Mahmood Jessa. Rebranded as Saverstore, it’s still in business today.

Tiny Computers

Started in 1990, Tiny sold cut-price PCs through mail order while a sister company, Opus, targeted the corporate and public service markets. Tiny even opened up a chain of retail stores in the late 1990s.

Caught out by the home computing crash of 2001, Tiny went into receivership in early 2002 and had its assets bought by Time PLC.

Time PLC

Part of the Granville Technology Group, whose brands also included Colossus and MJN, Time is best remembered for its advertising and its chain of 1990s retail outlets.

Time merged its retail business with Tiny’s, but went bust in 2005, owing £30 million and with a loss of 1,500 jobs.

Panrix

The system builder from Leeds created a reputation for cutting-edge, high-performance systems, and was a frequent winner in the PC Pro Labs.

Panrix suffered badly from the downturn in the PC market at the turn of 2000, and went into administration in May 2001. It had a brief resurrection as Panrix Technologies under founder Gulberg Panesar, but went down for good in 2002.

Dotlink

The Wembley-based manufacturer became known for aggressively priced, high-performance systems in the days when AMD and Cyrix were giving Intel a bashing.

Dotlink remains listed at Companies House, but no longer sells PCs. Head-honcho Kirit Shah is director of educational tech specialist, Go Education PLC.