Where are they now... companies that bit the bullet

[DJGM]

. . . at the top we had 'Microsoft Internet Explorer provided by LineOne', even though we were using Totalise . . .

Ahh yes, Totalise. As I recall, they were an unusual ISP that sadly bit the bullet, but came back owned by another
company. Totalise were my dial-up ISP until I got my ntl broadband internet service installed, back in July 2001.

Totalise were unusual in that, even though they offered the bog standard, subscription free, pay as you go, type
dial-up internet service, they offered a number of free shares in the company. You would get more shares, the
more time you spent logged on to the service via their 0845 local rate access numbers.

A few weeks before Christmas 1999, I'd acquired a number of free shares that were worth very nearly £900!

The shares weren't listed on the FTSE Index, unlike most PLC's. They were on a smaller independent stock
market called OFEX. After about 18 months or so, the overall value of the shares, had shrunk down from
about £1.40 per share, to a somewhat rather piddling £0.03 per share! By this time, Totalise were no
longer issuing official share certificates by post, to prove ownership of company shares, but instead
issuing "e-statements" to shareholders via e-mail, which needed to be printed out.

Eventually, Totalise moved from OFEX to the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investments Market.
A few months later, they failed to renew their registration as a PLC on the AIM, and the shares were
suspended, rendering them allworthless. Not longer after this, Totalise went into administration.

Totalise is now just an ISP brand name, owned by a company called GreySpark Ltd. This company own
a number of other small local rate ISP's that nearly went bust, including Madasafish, amongst others.

FWIW . . . I had nearly 2000 Totalise shares at one point . . .

[Chris]

It's just come to me what happened to Ritz Video? Were they all taken over by Blockbuster? Also at all do any Electronic Boutiques stores still exsist? Or were they all rebranded to Game?

Also sorry if it's been mentioned what happened to Texas? (DIY Store)

There used to be an Electronics Botique store in Woking when I last went there a few months ago. Not sure if it's still there but if I am in the area, I'll probably walk past it in the shopping centre.

Texas IIRC were bought out by Sainsbury's Homebase and so were amalgamated into their line of stores. I think Homebase were then either sold off or bought out by another company as they now exist as a separate entity to Sainsbury's as they no longer have the Sainsbury's text on their bags/store branding/adverts.

[Ben]

they now exist as a separate entity to Sainsbury's as they no longer have the Sainsbury's text on their bags/store branding/adverts.

Yep homebase is now part of the Argos Retail Group and have been since November 2002.