issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages a major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . november 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . november 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . november 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message dialaphone industry telecommunications fate defunct bankrupt founded 1995 founder jonathan beck and richard frank defunct 15 september 2014 headquarters newcastle under lyme staffordshire england products mobile telephones parent phones4u website http www.dialaphone.co.uk dialaphone dial a phone dial a phone was an independent mobile phone retailer in the united kingdom . it was established in february 1995 as a direct marketer and supplier of mobile phones and mobile phone accessories . the e commerce website went online in september 2000 . in 2008 it was acquired by phones 4u who as of september 2014 collapsed into administration closing branches online trading and call centres . contents 1 history 2 products 3 environment 4 advertising and sponsorships 5 see also 6 references 7 external links history edit dialaphone was founded in february 1995 by jonathan beck and richard frank with capital borrowed from beck s father . while there was enough investment to fund telephone lines and recording equipment the company had to carry out transactions without tracking software . instead beck organised a system of trays and runners to keep track of orders during the company s early days . 1 initially the business model relied entirely on direct phone calls generated from advertisements placed in the press combined with efficient processing . double page spreads in tabloids were particularly successful in attracting consumers . citation needed during the late 90 s dialaphone experienced rapid growth in a burgeoning market . this along with the business minimal running costs attracted the attentions of several investors . in 1999 a deal was made with barclays private equity to take a majority share in the company in return for investment . 2 this investment enabled the business to expand into the online area and develop a new website called www.dialaphone.co.uk . in may 1998 dialaphone began its transition into an online business model with the launch of a dedicated e commerce website . the website would soon become the business primary source of income in the future . citation needed after extensive growth and moving to new premises the management teams were restructured and in the summer of 1999 a new marketing director finance director and managing director were appointed . andy brown who had formerly worked under john caudwell at phones 4u was brought on board as managing director and began pursuing other avenues of marketing using scratchcards catalogues and tv advertising . 3 dialaphone became more involved in sponsorship and was the primary shirt sponsor of middlesbrough football club from 2002 to 2004 . 4 after seven years at the helm in which dialaphone became the third largest contract connector in the uk andy brown parted company with frank and beck in april 2006 following differences over the future direction of the business . 5 the company had reportedly made a turnover of 195m during the past year and was one of the largest online mobile phone retailers in the country . 6 7 despite its early success dialaphone s contract volume dwindled in the wake of brown s departure . consequently it was bought by one time competitor phones 4u for a knockdown price in february 2008 . the fee was reported to be around 9m . 8 on 14 september 2014 the dial a phone website was taken offline following the parent company phones 4u going into administration . products edit dialaphone s products included feature phones and smartphones from all the major manufacturers which were available on the uk s main networks . dialaphone offered customers a range of free gifts usually personal electronic goods and cashback with certain tariffs and handsets . citation needed environment edit dialaphone is partnered with mobile recycling service money4urmobile which offers incentives for customers to recycle their old mobile phone . citation needed advertising and sponsorships edit under frank and beck dialaphone became the business most commonly associated with successful off the page marketing . citation needed advertisements were uncomplicated and adhered to a matrix developed by the founders to maximise their effectiveness . citation needed they often appeared prominently in daily uk tabloids catalogues and magazines . as the business evolved dialaphone began turning to other methods of advertising . it became the primary shirt sponsor of premier league middlesbrough football club during the 2002 03 and 2003 04 seasons . in 2011 dialaphone became the official mobile partner of premier league darts 9 sponsored the rugby league challenge cup and in 2012 is set to become the official online mobile phone sponsor of the football league . citation needed see also edit phones 4u john caudwell mobile phones references edit dial a phone founders 84m fortune . mobile today . barclays buy out exits . barclays private equity . dial a phone founders 84m fortune . mobile today . dialaphone secures premier sponsorship deal . marketing week . dialaphone boss walks . mobile today . dialaphone pressure . mobile today . http www.mobiletoday.co.uk news 2528 dial a phone pressure.aspx dialaphone sold for knock down 9m . mobile today . dialaphone link up with 888 . com premier league . matchroomsport . external links edit dialaphone website v t e telecommunications industry in the united kingdom economy of the united kingdom science and technology in the united kingdom companies infrastructure providers arqiva babcock international bt wholesale openreach interxion telecitygroup telehouse europe service providers current andrews & arnold asda mobile bt group bt global services bt business bt consumer ee plusnet claranet colt group the co operative cable & wireless communications delight mobile family mobile inmarsat kcom group eclipse internet lebara mobile lycamobile mapesbury communications o2 uk giffgaff origin broadband sky sky broadband talkmobile talktalk group aol broadband talktalk business talktalk mobile talktalk tv telecom plus tesco mobile three tru virgin media virgin media business virgin mobile uk vodafone vodafone uk voipfone wightfibre zen internet defunct atlantic telegraph company be un limited bonelli s electric telegraph company cable & wireless plc cable & wireless worldwide dolphin telecom electric telegraph company energis general post office ionica london and provincial district telegraph company mercury communications mobile by sainsbury s national telephone company ntl ovivo post office telecommunications pipex priyo mobile rabbit stan mobile tiscali uk universal private telegraph company suppliers current arm holdings artevea csr icera metaswitch pace sarantel spirent telent defunct gec plessey telecommunications marconi company marconi communications picochip standard telephones and cables other carphone warehouse hibu phones 4u dial a phone government and regulatory bodies broadband stakeholder group defence science and technology laboratory european conference of postal and telecommunications administrations international telecommunication union ofcom phonepayplus industry bodies gsm association internet service providers association lonap london internet exchange manap symbian foundation internet telephony services providers association other adastral park british approvals board for telecommunications british telecommunications act 1981 british telephone sockets bt research bt site engineering code communications act 2003 earth stations in the united kingdom hull colour pages interception of communications act 1985 internet in the united kingdom telegraph act telegraph act 1868 telegraph act 1885 telephone numbers in the united kingdom uk telephone code misconceptions web blocking in the united kingdom category commons retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title dial a phone & oldid 734296792 categories mobile phone companies of the united kingdomtelecommunications companies of the united kingdomcompanies established in 1995private equity portfolio companieshidden categories wikipedia articles with possible conflicts of interest from november 2011articles with a promotional tone from november 2011all articles with a promotional tonearticles needing additional references from november 2014all articles needing additional referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from november 2011 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 13 august 2016 at 10 45 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view