Pipex ( / ˈ p aɪ p ɛ k s / PY -peks ) was the United Kingdom's first commercial Internet service provider (ISP). It was formed in 1990 and helped to develop the ISP market in the UK. In 1992 it began operating a 64k transatlantic leased line and built a connection to the UK government's JANET network. One of its first customers was Demon Internet which popularised dial up modem based internet access in the UK. It was also one of the key players in the development of the London Internet Exchange through a meeting with BT in 1994.
17-504: The company went through a number of mergers and acquisitions and by 2007 had dropped to be the sixth largest ISP in the UK. The Pipex name was used by a number of companies within the group, which were gradually renamed following the sale of its home broadband business to Tiscali UK in 2007. In 2009, the former Pipex Wireless business, rebranded as Freedom4, bought the former Pipex Business, known as Vialtus. Freedom4 also purchased Daisy Group through
34-437: A $ 100m deal. • Ocado , the online supermarket, first appeared on Tech Track 100 in 2006 with sales of £143m. It floated in 2010. • Sophos , the cybersecurity software provider, which first featured in 2002, was valued at £1bn when it floated in 2015. • Just Eat , the online takeaway business, which first featured in 2011, was valued at £1.5bn when it floated in 2014, and merged with Dutch firm, Takeaway.com , in
51-603: A meeting with BT to discuss the creation of a London-based Internet exchange. Pipex donated a Cisco Catalyst 1200 Network switch which formed the basis of the London Internet Exchange (LINX). Unipalm Pipex was sold to UUNet in November 1995 for £150 million and became UUNet/Pipex. The brand became known as Worldcom Pipex , after UUnet merged with MFS , which is later acquired by WorldCom before merging with MCI to form MCI WorldCom , later renaming back to MCI which
68-536: A reverse takeover, and the three companies were brought together as Daisy. The company was formed as the first commercial ISP in the UK by Unipalm in 1990 as The Public I.P. Exchange Ltd (PIPEX), founded by Peter Dawe . In mid 1992, it began operating a 64k transatlantic leased line to UUNET and another to JANET. One of its first customers was Demon Internet , shortly followed by the BBC . In November 1994, Keith Mitchell, then chief technical officer of PIPEX, initiated
85-408: A £6.2bn deal in 2020. • King , the gaming website operator, first appeared on Tech Track 100 in 2007, floated in 2014 and was acquired by Activision Blizzard for $ 5.9bn in 2016. The 20th anniversary Sunday Times Tech Track 100 league table supplement was published on 6 September 2020 and featured companies such as tech unicorns Darktrace , Checkout.com and TransferWise . The top company
102-575: Is a British business-to-business (B2B) provider of IT , communications , and cloud services to UK organizations. Today, Daisy Group has two operational divisions: Daisy Corporate Services and Daisy Communications. Their head office is in Nelson, Lancashire , England, and they also have a number of other offices throughout the UK, including Birmingham , Bristol , Farnborough , Glasgow , Horsham , Leeds , London , Manchester , Nottingham , Reading , Romford , Sevenoaks and Wakefield . The Daisy Group
119-525: Is a leading research and events company that has built a network of the UK’s top-performing private companies, from the fastest-growing to the biggest, through its rankings in The Sunday Times. Founded in 1997 by Hamish Stevenson, it now publishes seven annual league tables and brings company founders and directors together at invitation-only networking awards events and alumni dinners. Companies have to meet
136-400: Is a selection of companies that have either achieved, or predict, good sales growth. • Excluded companies include payday lenders, computer resellers and companies that are equal joint ventures, or majority-owned by quoted or other companies. IT consultancies and IT services companies are required to generate a significant proportion of their sales from proprietary technologies. Tech Track 100
153-426: The UK. It ranks Britain’s 100 private technology (TMT) companies with the fastest-growing sales over their last three years. It is published in The Sunday Times each September, with an awards event typically held in November, and networking dinners for alumni companies throughout the year. The league table is researched and produced by Fast Track, an Oxford-based research and networking events business. Fast Track
170-529: The below criteria to be able to qualify for the Tech Track 100 league table: • Independent technology company • UK registered, unquoted, and not subsidiaries • Sales of at least £250,000 in the base year • Sales of at least £5m in the latest year • Trading weeks in the base and latest years have to exceed 25 Companies that do not meet the criteria can still be considered for the Ones to Watch programme. This
187-529: The business floated on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM). In December 2014, Daisy once again became a private company in order to embark on its next stage of growth. The following businesses (or certain assets from) were acquired by Daisy Group and integrated within their business: Tech Track 100 The Sunday Times Tech Track 100 is an annual league table published in association with The Sunday Times newspaper in
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#1733092432660204-401: Was Revolut , the digital banking services provider. The 2012 Sunday Times Tech Track 100 league table ranked the top 100 of Britain's private technology, digital media and telecoms (TMT) companies that demonstrated the fastest sales growth over the preceding three years, between 2008 and 2011, or between 2009 and 2012. The 2012 Tech Track included a new category, Ones to Recognise , for
221-501: Was acquired by GX Networks plc, which retained the Pipex name by renaming itself Pipex Communications plc. In September 2006, Pipex purchased Toucan from IDT Telecom for £24 million, and Cable & Wireless ' Bulldog Broadband for £12 million. Pipex sold its home broadband business and the rights to use the Pipex name to Tiscali UK in July 2007 for £210 million. As a consequence, Pipex Wireless
238-410: Was founded in 2001 by Founder and Chairman Matthew Riley, who aimed to disrupt a monopolized business market and target an under-resourced business community with the benefit of being bound to no single network or supplier. From a small start-up, the business experienced rapid organic growth and was named the fastest-growing technology business in the UK in the 2005 Sunday Times’ Tech Track . In 2009,
255-413: Was launched in 2001 to recognise Britain’s private technology companies with the fastest-growing sales. Since its launch, more than 1,000 companies have appeared on the league table, including: • Blue Prism , the automation software developer, featured as a One to Watch in 2015 with sales of £4.5m. It floated in 2016 raising £21.1m. In June 2019, it acquired thoughtonomy, No. 4 in Tech Track 100 2018, in
272-778: Was renamed Freedom4 in October 2007, followed by Pipex Business in February 2008 which was renamed Vialtus . Pipex Communications reverted to the GX Networks name in March 2008. Freedom4 agreed to purchase Vialtus and Daisy Group in July 2009, performing a reverse takeover of Daisy. The former Pipex residential business, as part of Tiscali, was integrated into TalkTalk when Tiscali UK was itself acquired by TalkTalk's parent The Carphone Warehouse in 2009. Daisy Group Daisy Group Holdings Limited , trading as Daisy Group or simply Daisy ,
289-498: Was then taken over by Verizon Communications . Pipex retained contracts with Verizon with regards to the network structure. David Rickards and family acquired the PIPEX brand for an undisclosed sum and the new company PIPEX Internet Ltd was born. In January 2002 saw the first push to provide digital subscriber line (DSL) lines instead of traditional modems and Pipex invested £2 million to get 40,000 DSL users online. In October 2003 Pipex
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