Freecom’s History

In 1998 Oneview was born – our first company, and one of the first companies in the country creating websites specifically for businesses in the UK during the era of the dotcom boom.

Being a young industry meant that there were no ‘off the shelf’ or suitable CRMs to run a Business ISP, so in response, Oneview took on additional developers to create one called, (rather unoriginally) ‘Back Office’. This led to many platforms and even more bespoke work being undertaken over the years.

Oneview grew rapidly, even surviving the bursting of the ‘Dotcom Bubble’ as it became known. Towards the end of 1999 Oneview was bought by a company called Freecom and subsequently the whole group was renamed Freecom.net.

Pretty quickly, the company grew sufficiently that it needed a larger space to operate so it relocated to a large office block in the heart of the Black Country that could contain its 500 plus staff. Freecom continued to provide cutting edge technology to existing and new customers not just in the UK, but all over the world.

In 2000 Freecom sold CSM and Pegasus accounting software (two of its most successful and well known products) to Sage Accounting.

Later that year Freecom bought Systems Union Group Ltd and became a strategic partner with another company based in Germany; Openshop GmbH. Freecom hosted a version of their software in the UK which enabled it to build and host websites, as well as offer our clients a CMS so they could update their own websites.

In 2004 Freecom decided to part ways with Openshop and create their very own platform called RapidBuild. It was built and maintained in house, so  it enabled Freecom to develop websites quickly and efficiently as well as add new functions and features as Internet technology advanced.

In 2006/2007, Freecom was sold to eDirectory PLC, which also included services from myfavshop.com and shoppingbank.com. This made perfect sense to merge as Freecom were at the forefront of web technology, and eDirectory were a specialist in eCommerce.

In 2007 the business relocated to the Business Park at the Merry Hill Centre in the West Midlands, this was a premium canalside location and right next to the shopping centre offering convenient access to clients from accross the UK.

In 2008 Freecom created ‘First 4 Apps’ and was one of the first companies in the UK that could create mobile apps at a fraction of the cost of most other app development companies. Again, they built their own software for this, so a lot of the time-consuming coding was already built into the platform itself. Freecom could build, quality check, and deploy a mobile app for both Android and Apple devices in a very short time.

Mobile application clients included; Phill ‘the Power’ Taylor (professional dart player), Rosie Fortescue (‘The only way is Chelsea’, fashion influencer), and football clubs including West Bromwich Albion, Aston Villa, and Walsall FC to name a few.

In 2015 School Life, Freecom’s comprehensive education platform launched. School Life is used by 95% of all schools in the Dudley Borough and has expanded to Sandwell, Birmingham, Oxford, and Worcestershire. Click here for more information on school life.

In 2019 Freecom was bought out by the management of the business. Mike Geer is now the C.E.O. of Educational Services, and Jon Geer is the C.E.O. of Commercial and Corporate. They have now further developed the team to meet the clients’ current and future needs and the businesses future aspirations.

Freecom remains a highly skilled, client focussed business.

Freecom specialises in Digital products.

• Digital marketing
• Email marketing
• Search Engine Optimisation
• Google Merchant Centre
• Adwords
• Pay Per Click campaigns
• Website design
• Website management
• Bespoke software creation
• Brand creation/remodelling
• Brand awareness
• Hosting Services