Namesco
Encyclopedia
Namesco Ltd is an Internet domain name
and hosting
service founded in 1996 as a small Internet setup named "Names.co Internet Services Limited" originally based in North East England
.
In 1997 another setup was founded by Kevin Savage, Jason Smith and John Sewell named Phase8.com "Webcall.com Limited" based in Worcester
at around the same time.
In March 2000, following the dot com boom, Names.co Internet Services Limited became a Public Limited Company
and floated on the London Unlisted Securities Market
with a new name of Namesco Internet Plc. In December 2001, Namesco Internet Plc acquired Phase8.com "Webcall.com Limited" for the sum of £2,450,000.
Despite acquiring smaller web hosting companies and resellers along the way such as SmartChoice on 1 April 2003 the "publicly quoted" Namesco struggled to be viable citing the increasingly competitive nature of the domain name and web hosting business, and the additional costs of maintaining listed status as the reasons for a lack of profitability.
Accordingly in January 2004 Namesco Internet PLC was the subject of a reverse takeover
and its internet operations subject to a management buyout
. The PLC "acquired" Larchland Limited for valuable mineral exploration rights and the business renamed as "Triple Plate Junction PLC."
Triple Plates accounts for 2004 reveal losses of GBP£84000, for the "Namesco" business prior to its disposal in January 2004. Indeed "Namesco" was hived down into a subsidiary
and sold to "Womerah Limited." Womerah being the company connected to the outgoing board of directors
, David Lees, Jason Smith and Kevin Savage.
Although Namesco had an annual turnover of over GBP£1.1M, Womerah acquired the subsidiary for a consideration of GBP£253,343 of which only GBP£100,000 was required as a cash payment, to be made in two staged payments GBP£50,000.
David Lees remained as a Director of both "Namesco Limited" and "Triple Plate Junction PLC." "TPJ" changed its activities to become a gold mining
and exploration
company with substantial activities in Vietnam
.
The now privately owned Namesco had the extra cash and agility to begin buying businesses which was key to the growth strategy. On the 9th July 2004, Namesco acquired NamesWeb; a small domain and web hosting business.
On the 17th September 2004, Namesco Ltd was able to "double" the size of its internet business by acquiring a competitor, the local and profitable Malvern
based "Simply.com Limited" from the Coulson family for GBP£2.15M. Simply.Com Limited managed 92,000 domain names.
On the 3rd March 2005, Namesco Ltd acquired the assets of domain and hosting business Net2 Ltd.
On the 19th July 2005, Namesco Ltd acquired the broadband
business NDO
Ltd. NDO
also sold domain names, web hosting and dialup internet access. This acquisition allowed Namesco to offer its customers ADSL at competitive prices, and in August 2006 it re-launched its broadband offerings.
On the 18 July 2007, Namesco Ltd was purchased by Register.it Spa, an Italian Internet company owned by Dada
, for £24.5million. Register.it also owns Nominalia in Spain, and acquiring Namesco adds a substantial UK operation to the division.
On 26 October 2007, Namesco Ltd acquired Xsession.com Limited, a company in administration since 23 July 2007.
On 13 November 2007, Namesco Ltd acquired the assets of Serve360.com, a Domain Registration and Hosting company.
On 13 December 2007, Namesco Ltd acquired the assets of UKdomains.com
, a domain registration and web Hosting company.
On 28 May 2008, Namesco Ltd acquired the assets of Register365, Irelands largest hosting provider, through its subsidiary Namesco Ireland Ltd, adding 40,000 domains to its portfolio.
In August 2009 after 10 years both Founders and Board Directors Kevin Savage and Jason Smith both resigned from Namesco to focus on their new business, Ventutec Limited. This leaves as new Directors, Chirag Patel previously the Operations Manager and Sarah Bratchell previously the Finance Controller.
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
and hosting
Internet hosting service
An Internet hosting service is a service that runs Internet servers, allowing organizations and individuals to serve content to the Internet. There are various levels of service and various kinds of services offered....
service founded in 1996 as a small Internet setup named "Names.co Internet Services Limited" originally based in North East England
North East England
North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...
.
In 1997 another setup was founded by Kevin Savage, Jason Smith and John Sewell named Phase8.com "Webcall.com Limited" based in Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
at around the same time.
In March 2000, following the dot com boom, Names.co Internet Services Limited became a Public Limited Company
Public limited company
A public limited company is a limited liability company that sells shares to the public in United Kingdom company law, in the Republic of Ireland and Commonwealth jurisdictions....
and floated on the London Unlisted Securities Market
Unlisted Securities Market
The Unlisted Securities Market , which ran from 1980 to 1996, was a stock exchange set up by the London Stock Exchange to cater for companies too small to qualify for a full listing....
with a new name of Namesco Internet Plc. In December 2001, Namesco Internet Plc acquired Phase8.com "Webcall.com Limited" for the sum of £2,450,000.
Despite acquiring smaller web hosting companies and resellers along the way such as SmartChoice on 1 April 2003 the "publicly quoted" Namesco struggled to be viable citing the increasingly competitive nature of the domain name and web hosting business, and the additional costs of maintaining listed status as the reasons for a lack of profitability.
Accordingly in January 2004 Namesco Internet PLC was the subject of a reverse takeover
Reverse takeover
A reverse takeover or reverse merger is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public...
and its internet operations subject to a management buyout
Management buyout
A management buyout is a form of acquisition where a company's existing managers acquire a large part or all of the company.- Overview :Management buyouts are similar in all major legal aspects to any other acquisition of a company...
. The PLC "acquired" Larchland Limited for valuable mineral exploration rights and the business renamed as "Triple Plate Junction PLC."
Triple Plates accounts for 2004 reveal losses of GBP£84000, for the "Namesco" business prior to its disposal in January 2004. Indeed "Namesco" was hived down into a subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
and sold to "Womerah Limited." Womerah being the company connected to the outgoing board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
, David Lees, Jason Smith and Kevin Savage.
Although Namesco had an annual turnover of over GBP£1.1M, Womerah acquired the subsidiary for a consideration of GBP£253,343 of which only GBP£100,000 was required as a cash payment, to be made in two staged payments GBP£50,000.
David Lees remained as a Director of both "Namesco Limited" and "Triple Plate Junction PLC." "TPJ" changed its activities to become a gold mining
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
and exploration
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
company with substantial activities in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
.
The now privately owned Namesco had the extra cash and agility to begin buying businesses which was key to the growth strategy. On the 9th July 2004, Namesco acquired NamesWeb; a small domain and web hosting business.
On the 17th September 2004, Namesco Ltd was able to "double" the size of its internet business by acquiring a competitor, the local and profitable Malvern
Malvern, Worcestershire
Malvern is a town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, governed by Malvern Town Council. As of the 2001 census it has a population of 28,749, and includes the historical settlement and commercial centre of Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and the former...
based "Simply.com Limited" from the Coulson family for GBP£2.15M. Simply.Com Limited managed 92,000 domain names.
On the 3rd March 2005, Namesco Ltd acquired the assets of domain and hosting business Net2 Ltd.
On the 19th July 2005, Namesco Ltd acquired the broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
business NDO
NDO
NDO Limited was an Internet Service Provider in the United Kingdom. Originally established in 1995, originating from NetDirect which was one of the first ISPs in the UK.-History:...
Ltd. NDO
NDO
NDO Limited was an Internet Service Provider in the United Kingdom. Originally established in 1995, originating from NetDirect which was one of the first ISPs in the UK.-History:...
also sold domain names, web hosting and dialup internet access. This acquisition allowed Namesco to offer its customers ADSL at competitive prices, and in August 2006 it re-launched its broadband offerings.
On the 18 July 2007, Namesco Ltd was purchased by Register.it Spa, an Italian Internet company owned by Dada
Dada
Dada or Dadaism is a cultural movement that began in Zurich, Switzerland, during World War I and peaked from 1916 to 1922. The movement primarily involved visual arts, literature—poetry, art manifestoes, art theory—theatre, and graphic design, and concentrated its anti-war politics through a...
, for £24.5million. Register.it also owns Nominalia in Spain, and acquiring Namesco adds a substantial UK operation to the division.
On 26 October 2007, Namesco Ltd acquired Xsession.com Limited, a company in administration since 23 July 2007.
On 13 November 2007, Namesco Ltd acquired the assets of Serve360.com, a Domain Registration and Hosting company.
On 13 December 2007, Namesco Ltd acquired the assets of UKdomains.com
Ukdomains
UKDomains was formed in 1996 and was one of the first companies within the United Kingdom to start registering internet domain names. As the 9th registered member and TAG holder of Nominet UKDomains provides a wide range of second level domains such as .co.uk, .org.uk and .me.uk domain names...
, a domain registration and web Hosting company.
On 28 May 2008, Namesco Ltd acquired the assets of Register365, Irelands largest hosting provider, through its subsidiary Namesco Ireland Ltd, adding 40,000 domains to its portfolio.
In August 2009 after 10 years both Founders and Board Directors Kevin Savage and Jason Smith both resigned from Namesco to focus on their new business, Ventutec Limited. This leaves as new Directors, Chirag Patel previously the Operations Manager and Sarah Bratchell previously the Finance Controller.
Recent awards
- Listed Finalists in UK's Best Shared Hosting provider at the Internet Service Providers (ISPA) awards 2011
- May 2009: Voted UK's Best Shared Hosting provider for the Second Year at the Internet Service Providers (ISPA) awards
- May 2009: Wins UK Web Hosting Directories Number One ‘Unix Web Hosting’ Award.
- April 2009: Wins WebHostDirectory’s Number One Award for Shared Hosting
- September 2008: Nominated for the PC Pro magazines Best Web Hosts Award 2008
- Won the Best Shared Hosting Award from the ISPAInternet Service Providers AssociationThe Internet Service Providers Association, or ISPA, is a British body representing providers of Internet Services.-History:ISPA was established in 1995 as the first trade association for ISPs, promoting competition, self-regulation and progress within the Internet industry...
Awards in 2008. - Finalist for Best Dedicated Hosting Award from the ISPAInternet Service Providers AssociationThe Internet Service Providers Association, or ISPA, is a British body representing providers of Internet Services.-History:ISPA was established in 1995 as the first trade association for ISPs, promoting competition, self-regulation and progress within the Internet industry...
Awards in 2008. - 2nd Best Small ISP Award from PC Advisor in 2007.
- Finalist for Best Consumer Broadband Award from the ISPAInternet Service Providers AssociationThe Internet Service Providers Association, or ISPA, is a British body representing providers of Internet Services.-History:ISPA was established in 1995 as the first trade association for ISPs, promoting competition, self-regulation and progress within the Internet industry...
Awards in 2007. - Finalist for Best Business Broadband Award from the ISPAInternet Service Providers AssociationThe Internet Service Providers Association, or ISPA, is a British body representing providers of Internet Services.-History:ISPA was established in 1995 as the first trade association for ISPs, promoting competition, self-regulation and progress within the Internet industry...
Awards in 2007. - Finalist for Best Consumer Email Award from the ISPAInternet Service Providers AssociationThe Internet Service Providers Association, or ISPA, is a British body representing providers of Internet Services.-History:ISPA was established in 1995 as the first trade association for ISPs, promoting competition, self-regulation and progress within the Internet industry...
Awards in 2007. - Finalist for Best Business Email Award from the ISPAInternet Service Providers AssociationThe Internet Service Providers Association, or ISPA, is a British body representing providers of Internet Services.-History:ISPA was established in 1995 as the first trade association for ISPs, promoting competition, self-regulation and progress within the Internet industry...
Awards in 2007. - Won the Best Buy for Broadband Award from PC Advisor in 2006.
- Won the Best Customer Satisfaction Award from PC Advisor in 2006.
External links
- Namesco website
- Phase8 website
- Namesco Business profile at business.com
- Namesco buys Simply.com at The RegisterThe RegisterThe Register is a British technology news and opinion website. It was founded by John Lettice, Mike Magee and Ross Alderson in 1994 as a newsletter called "Chip Connection", initially as an email service...
- Ofcom Consumer Complaint about Namesco Terms and Conditions (Since Resolved)
- Namesco offers free broadband
- Official website of Triple Plate Junction PLC
- DaDa buys Namesco for 24.5 million at ISP Spy
- Ventutec official website