Amstrad was a British consumer electronics company, founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar. During the 1980s, the company was known for its home computers beginning with the Amstrad CPC and later also the ZX Spectrum range after the Sinclair deal, which led it to have a substantial share of the PC market in Britain. In the following decade it shifted focus towards communication technologies, and its main business during the 2000s was the manufacture of satellite television set-top boxes for Sky, which Amstrad had started in 1989 as the then sole supplier of the emerging Sky TV service.
Sugar Tower in Brentwood, England (pictured in 2005)
Amstrad 7070 tape deck (c. 1970s)
The Amstrad CPC 464 personal microcomputer (1984)
Amstrad PCW8512 word processor (1985)
Alan Michael Sugar, Baron Sugar is a British business magnate, media personality, author, politician and political adviser. In 1968, he started what would later become his largest business venture, consumer electronics company Amstrad. In 2007, he sold his remaining interest in the company in a deal to BSkyB for £125 million.
Sugar at the 2010 BAFTAs
Amstrad's CPC 464 personal computer