Lord Alan Sugar has bought back the rights to the Amstrad brand name following its sale to Sky in 2007, and will use it for a new digital marketing agency fronted by his grandson.
Famous for his success as a businessman since the 1970s, Sugar was catapulted to further fame in 2005 when he was selected to host the UK version of ‘The Apprentice.’
Sugar had in recent years criticised what he called the ‘belligerence’ of Sky bosses who had previously refused to sell him back the Amstrad name prior to the media firm’s acquisition by Comcast in 2018.
The new digital marketing firm, Amstrad Digital, will be run by Sugar’s grandson Joe Baron alongside Tom D’Arcy. Both men have previously at marketing agency Climb Online, founded by 2014 Apprentice winner Mark Wright and reportedly sold for £10 million in 2022.
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Speaking to the PA Media Agency, Sugar said: “I had always asked, since 2007, to have it back because I want to give it down to the family to use in their business.
“They’ve [Baron and D’Arcy] got the brand name, that in itself is worth a fortune, and they’ve got to exploit it. And I want to see some money.
“These two lads are not going to sit in their pyjamas working from home, they’ve got to get out there and do some business.”
Amstrad, which Sugar founded in 1968 at the age of 21, had been a tech firm focused on consumer electronics. Whilst the new Amstrad will operate exclusively as a marketing agency, Joe Baron has said that it would have “exactly the same values” as its predecessor.
