Here at Verastar, we think 1998 was great.
All month we’ve celebrated Verastar’s big birthday with our ‘20 years of Verastar’ series featuring an inside view from CEO Chris Earle, a closer look at our colleagues in Part 1 and Part 2 and our top moments from the last two decades.
For us, 1998 was a big year as it was the year we started out as a sales organisation which gave us the foundations we have built upon to become a licensed multi-service provider offering telecoms, broadband, mobile, gas, electricity, water and insurance (through our sister company The Insurance Octopus) to the small business market.
There are also lots of other, more commonly known, milestones that show why 1998 was great. Here are just a few…
Good Friday Agreement
The Belfast Agreement is known as the Good Friday Agreement as it was reached on 10th Friday 1998. It brought peace to Northern Ireland, ceasing conflict which had lasted for thirty years.
Millennium Dome
Construction began on the centrepiece of British celebrations for the year 2000 on the site of the Meridian Line in Greenwich – the Millennium Dome.
The Euro
The European Central Bank was established who would take charge of monetary policy when the Euro came into effect. The European Commission recommended 11 countries to participate in the euro: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain.
Windows 98 released
The follow-up to Windows 95, Windows 98 was made available to the public giving new functionality including the quick launch toolbar and thumbnails for pictures.
Digital Terrestrial TV launched
Digital terrestrial television which now encompasses over 100 television, radio and interactive services launched in the UK.
Nokia 5110
The iconic 5110 was introduced by Nokia. A staple of the 90s, the phone had interchangeable front covers and was one of the first mobiles to have Snake.
Google was founded
The most widely used web-based search engine Google was officially launched this year by students at Stanford University, Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was hosted by France, who also won the tournament for the first time. The tournament was soundtracked by Ricky Martin’s official song ‘La Copa de la Vida (The Cup of Life)’.
Titanic
James Cameron’s romantic epic ‘Titanic’ featuring Kate Winslett and Leonardo DiCaprio was released in the UK, won 11 Oscars and was the first film to reach the billion-dollar mark.
Verastar was born
Verastar launched as a unique sales organisation with a clear focus on small businesses ready to disrupt the market and challenge the traditional. 1998 really was great.
Verastar is a next-generation services company offering a unique mix of essential services for the small business market. Find out more by visiting our brands kinex and Clear Business.
