CORPORATE HISTORY

TECHNICAL INNOVATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN AT THE HEART OF PACE’S BUSINESS.

We started out in 1982 when the industry was getting excited about promising new technologies that would revolutionise the way we work and live. These technologies ended up doing that and more, and innovations such as the internet, home PCs and broadband have had a huge impact on how we consume entertainment in the home.

We spent five years as modem developers and manufacturers in this lucrative market before making the transition into television, where we developed the analogue set-top boxes that launched the first payTV television services across the globe. In 1995 we moved into digital services, and have never looked back.

At each stage of our development we have strived to take the technological lead in the marketplace. As a result, we have claimed a number of industry firsts along the way – from developing the world’s first DVB MPEG-2 set-top boxes, to being the first to integrate DOCSIS into a digital cable set-top box, to launching the first ever H.264 DVB-S2 high definition set-top box.

The cornerstone of our success has been, and will continue to be, down to a powerful mix of innovative thinking, technological expertise and industry foresight. We have remained at the forefront of this industry by hiring the best people, making the right decisions and believing in our abilities.

It is as a result of this approach and the strength in our convictions that we have been the launch partner for more than 20 payTV services worldwide – from BSkyB in the UK to FOXTEL in Australia. We now work with leading operators across the world, and claim Comcast, Time Warner Cable, UPC (Liberty Global), Premiere, SKY Italia, Viasat, FOXTEL and Sky New Zealand – to name but a few – amongst our customer base.

As the market continues to develop, so will Pace. And we are excited by what lies ahead.

HIGHLIGHTS

2008

Pace acquires the set-top box and connectivity solutions business of Royal Philips Electronics, bringing the total number of employees to almost 1000.
Change of name to Pace plc.
Pace unveils new look international HQ in Saltaire.
Pace wins Queens Award for International Trade.
Pace wins Yorkshire Post Award Best Exporter in 2008.
Pace CEO Neil Gaydon is awarded techMARK Personality of the Year.
Reclassification by London Stock Exchange to “Telecommunications Equipment” subsector of the “Technology Hardware & Equipment” sector.
Pace sets out its goal to be the world-leader in low environmental impact (LEI) set-top boxes.
Mathias Hautefort appointed as President of Pace France.
Pace demonstrates High Definition over DVB-T2 at IBC 2008.
Delivers +LE CUBE to leading French pay-TV operator CANAL+ - Europe’s first Satellite / IP hybrid set-top box to use the Ethernet port for VOD services.
Sky Italia chooses Pace for HD PVR and next generation SD PVR.
Foxtel launches Australia's first Pay-TV High Definition service using Pace PVRs.
BT awards set-top box contract to Pace.
Pace signs significant new US cable contract.

2007

Pace agrees to buy the set-top box and connectivity solutions business of Royal Philips Electronics.
High Definition business won with BSkyB and MultiChoice Africa.
Peer-to-peer, DLNA and the latest home networking technologies brought to life at IBC.
New CableCard™family of products launched in the US.
1 millionth set-top box shipped to FOXTEL in Australia.
Revenues more than doubled to £386.5m (2006/7 financial results).
Award for the ‘Best Contribution to Digital TV’ launched with the DTG.
Stuart Hall appointed as Chief Financial Officer.
Pace celebrates its 25th Silver Jubilee year.

2006

SKY Italia launches high definition in Italy with the Pace DS815NS HD satellite set-top box.
Pace launches one of the first pan-European free-to-air HD satellite set-top boxes - the DS810XE.
Pace board appoints a new Chairman - Mike McTighe.
Pace launches PVR in Italy with SKY Italia and the TDS460NS set-top box.
The Pace Board announced the appointment of Neil Gaydon to the position of Chief Executive Officer.

2005

Pace is launch partner for Premiere's HD service in Germany, with the world's first DVB-S2 H.264 HD set-top box.
Pace succeeded in winning significant business with the two leading digital TV operators in the US.
Pace won new contracts with Premiere, UPC, Viasat, Ntl Ireland, SSVC and Sky Italia in Europe.
Pace entered the Chinese market by securing a contract with Galaxy Satellite Broadcasting.
Pace launched PVR in Australia with Foxtel and New Zealand with Sky NZ.
Pace launched the first fully operational mobile PVR device for payTV - the PVR2GO.
Pace launched new concept technology - Pace Multidweller - designed to extend operator reach into multi-dwelling units.
Pace's manufacturing approach secured a visit from Gordon Brown.

2004

Pace announced Interim Results and a return to profitability.
Pace secured contract with KDG (Germany).

2003

Pace took four new contracts with Sky Italia, Viasat (Scandinavia), Foxtel (Australia) and Premiere (Germany).
The Pace Board announced the appointment of John Dyson to the position of Chief Executive.
Pace completed the negotiations for the management buyout of its VegaStream subsidiary.

2002

Pace’s Digital TV Adapter (DTVA) went on sale in selected retail outlets. For the first time ever, UK viewers are able to make the switch to digital TV for under £100.
Pace shipped its 3,000,000th digital cable set-top box.

2001

Pace acquired leading digital television technology company, Xcom Multimedia Communications SA.
Pace completed its plan to outsource its remaining global service and repair activities by agreeing the sale of its UK-based service and repair business to the A Novo Group.

2000

Pace acquired Vegastream Ltd, the specialist in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) products, which enable low-cost, high - quality voice communications for the business market.

1999

Pace manufactured its 2,000,000th digital set-top box, less than four years after the company helped create the worldwide digital pay TV market.
Acquires the set-top box division of Acorn – this adds a new technology to its portfolio – ADSL technology.
Delivers the UK’s first ADSL set-top boxes for launch of Kingston Interactive TV, Hull.
Time Warner, the largest cable network operator in the USA awards Pace its first digital cable contract for the US.

1998

Pace was the first company to start shipping set-top boxes to BSkyB (British Sky Broadcasting), the UK’s first digital broadcast service.
Cable & Wireless Communications awarded Pace the first contract to manufacture digital cable receivers, making Pace the only manufacturer to supply all three digital platforms in the UK; satellite, terrestrial and cable.
Pace receives the Queen's Award for Environmental, Technological and Export Achievement. This is the first time an Export Award has been given in this market sector.

1997

Pace manufactured its One Millionth digital set-top box.
Manufacturing facility awarded the coveted quality certification BS EN ISO 9002.
Pace began delivering units for the commercial roll out of the world’s first DVB-compliant digital cable network in Italy.
Malcolm Miller joined the company as Chief Executive.

1996

Pace placed its shares on the London Stock Exchange.
Pace manufactured its 500,000th digital decoder.

1995

Australian broadcaster, Galaxy, awarded contract to Pace to produce the world’s first MPEG-2 digital satellite set-top boxes.
Further digital set-top box orders were received from Shinawatra in Thailand and Multichoice South Africa.

1987

Launched its first analogue satellite set-top receiver.

1985

Introduced the first low cost, commercially available modem – the Nightingale.

1982

Pace founded.