Timeline
Regularly during 1996 — A young (ahem) journalist, Guy Monson, loses his filofax (remember those?) on the tube and vows never to be caught out by the universe again. He invests in a Psion, which he promptly breaks and his thoughts turn to protecting it.
After a little research, he realises that none of the cases on the market offer any real protection for his Psion’s delicate screen and a startlingly obvious idea occurs to him. Over a pint of beer he explains to university friend and fellow climber, Mike Coombes, that what the world needs is a hard case for the Psion. He really is a clumsy fellow that Monson, but thankfully he had the insight to realise that lots of other people out there probably were too.
Mike’s family is in manufacturing so he knows a fair bit about what’s needed and after a few more pints the talk turns to plastic injection moulding… well we’ve all had evenings like that, haven’t we?
April 1997 — Mike and Guy officially register PalmTec as a company, producing what was then the “only hard case for the Psion”. Designed in the UK, manufactured in Asia and offering better protection than the competition, PalmTec’s first product defined the practical approach that is at the heart of Proporta to this day.
March 1998 — The first delivery of two thousand Psion cases arrive leaving Mike, Guy and Amanda (there had to be a female influence in there somewhere), with what seemed like a mountain of products to sell.
Traditionally the trio might have bought champagne, but instead they opt for a celebratory bungee jump (on the basis that, unlike a fat lunch, it would provide some adrenaline-based impetus to their embryonic marketing and sales operation - it’s been tea and sandwiches over the keyboard ever since).
With no proper office, customer phone orders and enquiries are answered by all the family and friends Mike and Guy can muster. If you were an American customer calling late in your afternoon and left with the impression that all Brits are dopey, that’s probably because you’d just woken up Mike’s Dad in the middle of the night when he’d forgotten to switch off the divert.
May 1999 — The boys move from working out of their bedrooms, to their first official office, in Mike’s Dad’s Coventry-based metal plating company.
July 1999 — The launch of the Pod Case (for the Psion S5) and Shell case (Psion Revo) goes down a storm and the Postman struggles to get out of the door.
January 2000 - Guy breaks his pelvis skiing (didn’t we say he was clumsy?) and Mike steps in to deal with the emergency, instantly delivering a laptop computer to Guy’s hospital bed and ensuring that he is able to send and receive his email. (It’s been rumoured that Mike even asked Guy if he was OK, but that email has never been recovered).
March 2000 — As Palm increase their market share in the UK, PalmTec launches Scribble to cater for the new tablet-based PDA market.
October 2000 — Mike and Amanda move from Coventry and Guy from London to an office in Brighton on the south coast of England. Mike and Guy employ Simon Miller as their IT “department”, which consists of a PC, keyboard, monitor and Simon, neatly laid out on the floor of their new office (which has yet to invest in furniture). Guy and Mike sleep on Amanda’s floor for six weeks and, after six long months, she eventually manages to turf them out.
November 2000 — Sam “Preston” graces the warehouse with his presence for a while, later to shoot to semi-famedom as the lead singer of the Ordinary Boys. Most of the rest of the band work for PalmTec at some point part time doing assembly work. Some even say that their experience of working in the growing dispatch department makes an appearance in one or two of his lyrics…
May 2002 — PalmTec and Scribble rebrand as Proporta — the name is derived from the two words ‘professional’ and ‘portable’.
July 2002 — Proporta launches its first metal product, an Aluminium Case for the popular Palm V device, and it goes down a storm.
March 2003 — Proporta vous présente son site entièrement en français (the French version of the Proporta website is launched)… to cries of ‘mon dieu’ and ‘sacre bleu’ in Paris - probably.
November 2003 — Proporta launches its trademark Aluminium Lined Leather Case, bringing the company’s characteristic of improved protection to a traditional, hand crafted leather case, in a product whose popularity has increased steadily over the years.
July 2003 — Following the popular launch of the French website, Proporta goes international and opens sites for Spanish, Portuguese, German and Italian speaking regions.
August 2003 — With the Directors both out of site, Proporta staff are let loose with the company Credit Card and rack up an eye-watering bar bill among a small number of them during a determined drinking session in the local pub. To their disappointment the ‘credit card in the pub, Directors elsewhere’ experiment is never repeated. :(
September 2003 — A lovely customer visits the office and upon departure walks through a glass door - Inspector Clouseau style. As blood gushes everywhere Mike has a near heart attack and prepares to be sued. Thankfully it all turns out fine in the end. Both the customer and the company survive the incident, and Mike’s blood pressure resumes at a normal(ish) level.
October 2003 — Proporta launches its first ever Silicone Case, bringing slim, lightweight protection to mobile devices.
December 2003 — Sees the arrival of the retractable cable.
January 2004 — Proporta, bursting at the seams and breaching a number of regulations and laws of common sense, moves from its Victorian period office in Brighton to a modern three storey building in Hove.
March 2004 — Proporta proudly launches its Crystal Case — precision moulded in tough, impact resistant polycarbonate.
May 2004 — The year of weddings… Mike and Tink get married.
September 2004 — And Amanda and Russ get married.
September 2005 — Proporta branches out into the world of Game.
October 2005 — Proporta Paintball Trip: Mike gets shot in the ear and cries for the Marshall only to realise that the gunman is none other than fellow director, Guy, who denies that the attack was the result of years of pent-up aggression.
December 2005 — The first Proporta baby is born and Amanda introduces her to the team… hello Amelie. :)
January 2006 — Getting too big for their boots again, Proporta moves from its not-so-old home in Hove to a bigger business park on the South Downs overlooking Brighton.
January 2006 — Mike and Guy remortgage their own homes to cover costs until a major reseller payment is received. Luckily the reseller pays before Mike’s wife finds out.
January 2006 — Our in-house designer, Danny Barnes, extends his creativity by appearing on Celebrity Big Brother alongside one-time PalmTec dispatcher, Sam Preston.
August 2006 — Proporta turns vegetarian (momentarily) and launch the leather alternative, Classic Case.
September 2006 — Proporta’s dual skin silicone cases are launched, adding still better protection and a range of user-changeable colour options.
October 2006 — The Mobile Device Charger is born and goes on to win loads of awards for being simply brilliant.
November 2006 — The Lateral Case is launched and sinks without trace because it takes too long to produce for the relentless and fast-moving mobile device industry.
December 2006 — Only now do the boys decide to throw a Christmas party (must be because of that bar incident back in August 03). Complete with Gluvein, shortbread and lots of Tuaca.
December 2006 (the following day) — The Proporta team realises (for possibly the first and only time) the good sense of Mike and Guy’s decision making and, specifically, the decision not to have previously had a Christmas party involving Gluvein and Tuaca.
February 2007 — Proporta designs and manufactures a silicone case for the head honchos at Sony to coincide with the release of the Spiderman 3 film.
February 2007 — We hold a “wear a tie to work” day in respect of the loss of Maxim’s dog, Lollipop. RIP.
March 2007 — Mike splashes out and buys the office a two litre teapot — new urinals are installed in the toilet.
May 2007 — Proporta’s football team, the Slinkies, are promoted to Division One.
June 2007 — The Alu-Crystal Case and Sheepskin Case are born.
July 2007 — Our first annual sports day is called off due to bad weather and the Proporta team spend the rest of their “summer” staring out of a rain drenched window, bat and ball in hand. This is why Australia wins everything.
July 2007 — Mike and Guy's jointly owned Proporta-mobile (Rover 214 car) dies (shortly to be followed by the Rover company itself) and is replaced with a much camper version in aquamarine blue — nice.
August 2007 — The Proporta team heads off to the Wye Valley for a weekend of camping, canoeing and argument-watching (thank you Simon and Elena for the entertainment). Proporta considers a ban on relationships between staff but rejects it on the grounds that the Simon-Elena arguments boosted morale.
August 2007 — Guy begins what we suspect to be his midlife crisis and makes some questionable purchases, notably the bright red wallet (may it also RIP).
September 2007 — The Mobile Device Charger gives birth to a younger, smaller model — the Mobile Device Charger - Micro.
October 2007 — Proporta manufactures cases for Ted Baker to coincide with the launch of the iPhone.
October 2007 — The Proporta Mobile Survival Kit wins an award for "Best Accessory" in the PDA Essentials Awards 2007. Lynnette and Hannah travel to London's BAFTA Theatre to retreive the award on the company's behalf!
November 2007 — The Mini Mod, Shine and Edge Cases are all launched. Phew.
December 2007 — Instead of sending Christmas cards we decide to buy lots of school dinners for some kids who could really do with them and send a farmer (on behalf of our friends at Dixons) a goat.
December 2007 — The Christmas party consists of just a few of the team down the local while their co-workers suffer at home with the leurgy.
January 2008 — Proporta launch the Dual Skin Silicone Case.
February 2008 — The Mobile Device Charger’s mantelpiece starts to wobble as it wins yet another award from Italian publication, Il Mio Palmare.
March 2008 — Amanda buys the office some recyclable pens made from paper (and which make really good pea shooters). Guy loses about three a week — probably to Mike. Mike and Guy also treat the team to Easter Eggs to say thanks for all their hard work. Yum.
March 2008 — The Echo Mirror Screen Protector is launched.
April 2008 — The second Proporta baby is born (hello Archie) and the girls flock to greet him when he and dad, Gary, visit for the day.
April 2008 — Proporta celebrate their 12th Birthday (and no doubt will try to swipe the company credit card again). :o)
May 2008 — Chloe, a long-serving valued member of the Proporta team finally found herself a new job and has consequently left, leaving a big hole in all our hearts :o(
May 2008 — Hiran, our top dog in Sri Lanka comes to stay for 3 weeks to see what we all get up to in the UK office.
July 2008 — Ida, Hannah and Marta travel to the Apple store in London to promote our iPhone products at the 3G iPhone launch.
August 2008 — We've heard rumours of new iPods around the corner so everyone's busy working on all the new cases for the new family.
August 2008 — Another Proporta baby is born, this time Diego is the daddy. Introducing Rio JR Alcacer. What a cutie!!
September 2008 — The new range of iPods were launced on the 9th Sept. Proporta, speedy as usual have all their accessories ready and on the shelves.
September 2008 — Mike, Debbie, Hannah and Gary all attended the St. John's Ambulance Course to prepare themselves for any uncertainties that may occur in the office (touch wood they don't!). We now have 4 fully pledged First Aiders in the house.
October 2008 — Hannah and Marta attend the T3 Gadget Awards 2008 at The Intercontinental Hotel, Park Lane, London. They also managed to get snapped with James Nesbitt, the host for the evening - well done girls!
That same evening, Proporta head into Brighton for a few drinks to celebrate the new brand. Most of the evening was on Guy and Mike as well - not bad. The state of the office the following Monday morning surprises us all with it's fresh new look - the odd lime green flash here and there, our own little baby pics up on the wall, and our own little individual cacti waiting for us on our desks.
December 2008 — Proporta win the PDA Essentials Award for "Best Accessory" for the second year in a row, this time for the Mobile Device Charger - Micro. Hannah and Marta G were the lucky ones that got to accept it and also enjoy some top nosh in London's Maze by Gordon Ramsay restaurant. Ooooh.
December 2008 — It's the Proporta Christmas party and the office head out to go paintballing (in the freezing cold). [Top tip: Use Proporta's Mobile Device Cleaner (Screen Cleaner) as your secret weapon for steam free goggles]. It ws a fun filled day followed by more fun and frolicks in a pub in Brighton to celebrate Christmas in style - with a few drinks of course.
February 2009 — We all say our farewells to Amanda, our longest running member of the Proporta team, who worked for the company for about 9 and a half years. Wow, what an achievement. We all wish her hearty congratulations as she has also announced that she is pregnant. We all love a new born baby in this office, so can't wait for her to come visit.
April 2009 — Mike introduces us to Darwin - our very own Proporta puppy. Look how cute he is..... We're gonna try and make him not be too much of a distraction - but we'll see how that goes.
April 2009 — April 23rd sees our 13th birthday. We celebrated by giving the world 15% off. Our Sri Lankan office celebrated with cake.
June 2009 — Apple releases their third iPhone, the iPhone 3GS. As always Proporta is fully prepared and our new range is released and very well received.
September 2009 — And only a few months later the new Apple 5G iPod nano is launched along with a new version of the iPod touch, and we are on hand with accessories to suit every kind of user.
September 2009 — Five months after we welcomed our first Proporta puppy to the team, we have another one to keep us entertained. Meet Toffee, Jenny's new pup who'll be our office dog no. 2 (Have to say no. 2 or Darwin'll get jealous). She's a labradoodle, fluffy and adorable.
October 2009 — Following Proporta co-Director, Guy Monson’s, plummet towards some very pointy rocks back in October 2008, Lynnette (our Marketing Manager) decided she’d give it a go on the first anniversary. See the video here
November 2009 — The HTC Hero is launched and Proporta introduce a new style of case to their mix. The Mizu Shell was born and has proved to be very very popular. Watch out for this case for forthcoming devices.
December 2009 — Hannah's family dog Mazy came to stay for a while and was kept very busy with lots of things to do. As you can see typing is her main forte...
December 2009 — Brighton saw a huge dumping of snow this December - we even got a snow day. It was all very exciting as it doesn't happen often this far down south.
December 2009 — The Proporta team participated in a huge snow ball fight, the same day as our work Christmas party, as another massive dumping of snow occured. After this crazy behaviour, we all travelled to Hampton Court to go ice skating. Much fun was had by all, even by Annaliza, who practically broke her nose as she touched the ice. The evening was spent out in town enjoying a good ol' knees up.
December 2010 — Yet another doggy was added to the Proporta family. Debbie's kids' Chrimbo present was a new puppy called Guido. Look at that Dopey face...
January 2010 — Happy new year and back to the drawing board. Apple announce their new tablet, the iPad and everyone is hard at work to get products set up and ready to go.
