Editing Evesham Technology

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox company
| name             = Evesham Technology
| logo             = EveshamTech.jpg
| logo_size        = 100px
| type             = [[Private Limited Company|Private]] 
| image            = Former Evesham Technology Showroom, Glisson Road - geograph.org.uk - 737545.jpg
| image_caption    = Former Evesham Technology Showroom in Cambridge
| genre            = Computer and software sales and manufacture
| predecessor      = Evesham Micros
| foundation       = [[Evesham]], [[United Kingdom]] 1983. Liquidated 2008
| founder          = Richard Austin, Robert Hitchcock
| location_city    = [[Evesham]], [[Worcestershire]]
| location_country = [[United Kingdom]]
| location         =
| locations        = 1 factory, 19 stores throughout UK.
| area_served      = [[UK]]
| key_people       = 
| industry         = [[Computing]]
| products         = [[Computer]]s, [[software]], [[peripherals]]
| services         = 
| revenue          = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income       = 
| assets           = 
| equity           = 
| owner            = 
| num_employees    = 300
| parent           = 
| divisions        = 
| subsid           = 
| homepage         = 
| footnotes        = 
| intl             = 
}}

'''Evesham Technology''' was a computer manufacturing and retail company based in [[Evesham, Worcestershire]], [[England]]. It began operations in 1983 and closed in 2008 following financial difficulties. It was a significant contributor to the [[United Kingdom]]'s  domestic computer and digital  television market. Its assets grew to  include a factory  and warehouse complex,  and a chain of 19 retail stores in towns and cities throughout the UK, with around 300 employees. The company was founded in 1983 by Richard Austin and Robert (Bob) Hitchcock as '''Evesham Micros''', to  be briefly known as '''Evesham.com''' and finally as Evesham Technology. Austin continued as chairman and controlling shareholder until the company and its much reduced, short-lived successor, Geemore Technology Ltd, went into liquidation.

==Company history==
[[File:Computer.tower.750pix.jpg|thumb|The tower of an Evesham 3 GHz computer, model ''Dual SLi'']]
Initially specialising in [[Amstrad]] computers, Evesham began trading in 1983 as Evesham Micros, and for a short while as Evesham.com. It expanded its activities to include desktop and laptop computers, software, components and peripherals, servers, storage and networking as well as gaming systems, LCD televisions, digital TV recorders, and satellite navigation.<ref>[http://www.linkedin.com/companies/evesham-technology linkedin com., company listing] Retrieved 31 July 2009</ref> The sale of the Amstrad at competitive prices contributed to the initial success of the company. It developed and licensed a number of peripherals and upgrades for the [[ZX Spectrum]] (48K memory upgrade, Interface III cheat/copy Cartridge) and [[Commodore 64]] (Freeze Frame cheat/copy Cartridge, Dolphin DOS disk drive accelerator, Oceanic disk drive replacement) in the second half of the 1980s.

The company continued to sell computers at discounted prices, retailing an end of line stock [[Olivetti]] PC, the UK's first PC to be priced under £300. In December 1991, it cleared remaining stocks of the Amstrad's PC 2000 range, including 286 and 386DX machines selling for well under £1,000. Evesham became the UK's largest supplier of [[Atari ST]] computers, also selling them at discounted prices, having purchased large stocks. They also sold a range of software and peripherals for [[Amiga]] and Atari ST computers. Many of the products it designed were innovative and received favourable reviews by the computer press.<ref>[http://www.zdnetasia.com/reviews/hardware/desktops/0,3800010304,42000035p,00.htm ZDNetAsia review: E-scape Li (computer) ] Retrieved 31 July 2009</ref><ref>[http://reviews-technology.blogspot.com/2008/03/evesham-technology-t807-8-inch-lcd-tv.html  ReviewsTechnology: Evesham T807 LCD TV] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708061816/http://reviews-technology.blogspot.com/2008/03/evesham-technology-t807-8-inch-lcd-tv.html |date=8 July 2011 }} Retrieved 31 JUly 2009</ref><ref>[http://alatest.co.uk/reviews/other-hardware/evesham-quest-a230-amd-turion-x2-64-notebook/po3-33023242,47/  ALAtest, review: Quest A230 AMD Turion X2 64 notebook] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811072115/http://alatest.co.uk/reviews/other-hardware/evesham-quest-a230-amd-turion-x2-64-notebook/po3-33023242,47/ |date=2011-08-11 }} Retrieved 31 July 2009</ref><ref>[http://www.laptopxl.com/after-sales-services/evesham-technology.html LaptopXL.com: review of after sales service] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091207030545/http://www.laptopxl.com/after-sales-services/evesham-technology.html |date=2009-12-07 }} Retrieved 31 July 2009</ref><ref>[http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=5687 hexus.net review: Evesham Technology FX-62 System] Retrieved 31 July 2009</ref><ref>[http://gadgets.softpedia.com/gadgets/Television-and-music/The-Evesham-DTR250-Twin-Tuner-Digital-TV-Recorder-5341.html Softpedia reviews: DTR250 Twin Tuner Digital TV Recorder, Zieo NX600-HDX Gaming Laptop, 7-Inch Mini Theatre EVE7PORDT LCD TV] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716102257/http://gadgets.softpedia.com/gadgets/Television-and-music/The-Evesham-DTR250-Twin-Tuner-Digital-TV-Recorder-5341.html |date=2011-07-16 }} Retrieved 31 JUly 2009</ref>

The company moved premises from Bridge Street to St Richards Road in 1989, opened a manufacturing plant, and began marketing under the brand name of Zydec. In early 1992 Evesham released, under the name Vale, its first home produced PC, intended to be sold as part of the Zydec product range. The Zydec name was later revived as a range of low costing PCs sold briefly alongside the Vale range. The company expanded, and acquired a number of industrial units on the Four Pools Industrial Estate. In 1998, Evesham relocated to purpose built facilities at Vale Park. In 2002 it merged with Mertec, a company established for over 20 years in [[Swansea]], [[South Wales]] that held long-term supply and service contracts with some of the largest Welsh institutions.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120906220428/http://www.newswales.co.uk/index.php?section=Business&F=1&id=6090  NewsWales] Retrieved 31 July  2009</ref><ref>[http://channel.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=11929 Hexusnet News] Retrieved 31 July 2009</ref> In mid-2004 Evesham and FalconStor Software, Inc., a leading developer of network storage infrastructure software solutions, announced an OEM agreement to supply the UK market with FalconStor's iSCSI Storage Server for Windows Storage Server 2003(R) (iSCSI Storage Server), with Evesham's SilverSTOR iSAN family of products.<ref>[http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/70397/falconstor_and_evesham_technology_enter_into_oem_agreement/ RedOrbit News] Retrieved 31 July 2009</ref>

By 2007, Evesham Technology had more than 300 employees and offered a wide range of self-manufactured, imported, and assembled products that included desktops, laptops, servers, plasma and LCD displays, Media PCs and NAS servers, peripherals, and networking equipment. Its products were marketed through its own chain of 19 retail outlets in  UK towns and cities including Altrincham, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Glasgow, Ipswich, London, Milton Keynes, Norwich, Nottingham, Peterborough, Reading, Southampton, Swansea, and Tunbridge Wells. It was a founding member of the PC Association and was one of the few major suppliers recommended by [[BECTA]], the UK's educational ICT advisory organisation.

==Financial problems and closure==
Evesham had invested heavily into the UK government [[Home Computer Initiative]], and encountered financial problems when the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] government announced the sudden withdrawal of the scheme in 2007, leading to the appointment of [[Leonard Curtis]] as [[administration (law)|administrators]].<ref>[http://labs.pcw.co.uk/2007/10/evesham-owed-68.html Evesham 'owed £6.8 million'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722045326/http://labs.pcw.co.uk/2007/10/evesham-owed-68.html |date=2011-07-22 }}, ''[[Personal Computer World]]'', October 16, 2007</ref> In August 2007, the company received a help package in the form of an investment of $22 million from PCC Technology, a [[Dubai]] based investment fund controlled by [[Time Computer Systems|Time Group]] founder [[Tahir Mohsan]].<ref>[http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/08/03/evesham_pcc_mohsan_rescue_package/  Channel Register News: Mohsan rescue package] Retrieved 29 July 2009</ref><ref>[http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2007/08/03/evesham_pcc_mohsan_rescue_package/ Channel Register News] Retrieved 31 July 2009</ref>

The chain of retail stores were closed and Evesham continued to trade as newly formed Geemore Technology Ltd., a much smaller and re-structured company under the directorship of Austin, with about one third of the Evesham workforce. Customers were not immediately affected by the change. Geemore operated from the former Evesham premises at Vale Park, and the Elite Logo Company, a dormant business owned by Tahir Mohsan and Tariq Mohammed, was registered as secretary of the new firm. In February 2008, PCC Technology, issued a press release saying that the restructuring of the failed Evesham Technology was complete and had gone well under the circumstances. They also indicated that they were looking to resell the Evesham brand which was trading under the new company, Geemore Technology Ltd.<ref>[http://www.sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=37078&hilite= Evesham Press release] retrieved 31 July 2009</ref><ref>[http://channel.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=11929 Press release] Retrieved 31 July  2009</ref> After a lack of interest from potential buyers, however, the company finally closed down towards the end of March and the three-month contracts of all remaining Evesham staff who stayed on at Geemore expired. All consumer orders were fulfilled or deposits refunded, and a large number of staff were retained by Evesham while its operations were reduced in a controlled manner. Warranties however, lost their validity as Moshan's PCC did not provide for continued customer support under the terms of the original product guarantees.<ref>[http://www.sourcewire.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=37078&hilite= SourceWire.com news (Daryl Willcox Publishing)] Retrieved 31 July 2009</ref>

A group of former staff from Evesham headed by former Evesham employee Robin Daunter started Tewktech, a company selling computers and offering repairs for a variety of brands including Evesham Technology.<ref>[http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/242646/former-staff-offer-support-for-stranded-evesham-customers.html PCpro news] Retrieved 31 July 2009</ref><ref>[http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=108462 PC Advisor News] Retrieved 31 July 2009]</ref><ref>[http://www.tewktech.com/ Tewktech website] Retrieved 31 July 2009</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Companies based in Worcestershire]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1983]]
[[Category:Electronics companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Companies disestablished in 2008]]
[[Category:Defunct computer companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Defunct computer systems companies]]