KJC

Co-founded in 1987 by Darren Ridge and Joe Case, KJC was one of the first mobile phone retailers on the British high street, ahead of names like Carphone Warehouse.

From a single store in Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire, it grew to 60 branches across the South of England, moved into business telecoms and became Vodafone's largest partner.

KJC was sold to PNC Telecom in 2000 for a reported £30m. Darren went on to found Premier Telecom in 2002, the forerunner of Onecom.