A pioneer of the West Midlands IT industry has logged off for the last time.

John Dixon turned his love of gadgets into a thriving business which earned him an audience with Alan Sugar at a time when the last winner of the Apprentice was a toddler.

Dixon, who was born and brought up in Coventry, founded IT firm Computime in 1985, after leaving school at 15 and working for Roots Motors and Massey Ferguson.

He took redundancy from the tractor manufacturer when he turned 40 and built Coventry-based Computime to one of the most successful IT support and software sales and development companies in the area.

He merged the firm with Coleshill-based Acutec last year and, after helping to ensure the transition went well, he has decided to hang up his mouse and keyboard for the last time.

“The whole merger has gone very well and the new group is better placed than ever to succeed so I feel the time is right for me to step down,” he said.

“I have worked very closely with Chris Roche – the managing director of Acutec – to make sure that the move went well and I think it has added to the strength of both companies. I am sure he will lead to bigger and better things.

Acutec now employs around 20 staff at its head office and represents more than 300 clients across the Midlands and also works in the Sudan.

Dixon did a variety of jobs before joining Roots and went to night school for 12 years to collect a variety of professional qualifications culminating in a post graduate Diploma in Management Studies from the Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry.
Once he took the decision to set up on his own with the backing of Margaret Thatcher’s Enterprise Scheme, the company grew rapidly as information technology took off.

It was voted the Amstrad Dealer of the Year for the Midlands in 1988 and 1989, and for the UK in 1988. For the past five years, Computime has specialised in integration into the internet, telephony, accounts, and CRM as well as developing bespoke packages for clients. Those services are now integrated with Acutec’s own.

Dixon added: “I have always been one for gadgets and the in many ways our timing was just right. Businesses of all sizes were waking up to the possibilities of technology and Amstrad was on the rise.

“We were one of its first dealers in the country and were an early dealer for Sage software. We won Amstrad Dealer of the year within three years of start up, and were off and running.”

Dixon was a founder member of the Regional IT Association (RITA), which later became the WMITA and is now UKITA.

Roche founded Acutec in 1992 and it now delivers hardware, IT security, network support, bespoke software, and IT consultancy services.

He said: “John really was a trailblazer in the IT world in the Midlands and it is a testament to him that we still work with some of the very early Computime clients.

“It has been a really beneficial experience to work together for the last 12 months and knowing him for that length of time, I do not expect him to be sitting at home putting his feet up.”

Dixon, who lives in Kenilworth, with his expertise in business planning, is hoping to help small companies in their business planning.