Take me to :
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 of 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 open 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 launch 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 turn 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 realise (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 is 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 — The first 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 manufacture 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(
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