Alan Sugar

Alan Michael Sugar founded A. M. S. Trading in 1968, initially selling car aerials and other electrical goods from a van. He turned the shortened Amstrad name into a major consumer-electronics brand by concentrating on products that could be manufactured efficiently and sold at prices attractive to a mass market.

Sugar led Amstrad into home computing with the CPC464 in 1984. Sold as a complete package with its own monitor and cassette deck, the CPC reflected his preference for simple, ready-to-use systems. Amstrad followed it with the CPC664 and CPC6128, then reached an even wider business and home audience with the PCW word processors and low-cost IBM-compatible PCs.

In 1986 Sugar acquired Sinclair's computer assets, allowing Amstrad to continue the ZX Spectrum line. His emphasis on price, packaging and retail distribution made Amstrad one of the defining British computer companies of the 1980s.