Sugar, Alan Michael

Click a letter for the index

Or search the encyclopaedia:

 

 

Go

 

English entrepreneur and founder in 1968 of Amstrad, which became one of the UK's leading consumer electronics companies. It produced innovative, low-priced goods throughout the 1980s. When Amstrad's share price fell in the 1990s recession, Sugar reorganized the company to launch a new generation of consumer products. He was chairman of London's Tottenham Hotspur football club 1991–2001.

Sugar's IBM-compatible PC, launched in 1986 at a quarter of the price of leading market products, captured 25% of the European market. The same year Amstrad absorbed Sinclair Research, owned by English computer entrepreneur Clive Sinclair, which had gone bankrupt. After diversifying into telecommunications in the 1990s, Sugar focused on higher-margin consumer electronic products, such as the e-mail enabled phone. In 2000 Amstrad was the first company to have full approval from television satellite company BSkyB for its digital set-top box. Sugar was knighted in 1999, and the Sunday Times Rich List 2001 estimated his worth at £544 million.

In 1991 Sugar bought Tottenham Hotspur for £7 million in partnership with English coach Terry Venables. He won a libel action against the Daily Mail in 2001 over reports about his stewardship of the football club.

Blue symbolizes the ocean. The stars represent the ten main islands. The red stripe stands for the road to progress. Effective date: 25 September 1992. >>