The Dearden Family
Ken Dearden
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At this point I draw your attention to the proverbial Lord Mayor’s Show and the subsequent sale of the business to Torex Health in 1999. Torex Health was noted for its ambitious growth in the NHS primary care market (otherwise known as GPs) by acquisition and was itself acquired by iSoft plc a few years later.

One of my major in-house projects was a design for and subsequent implementation project management of a Cisco IP Telephony network linking the two main Torex Offices in Banbury and Prestwich and including a call centre based in Banbury. An early IP Telephony Infrastructure document was produced in which I didn't even warrant a mention. But then, the technical guys (and I include my excellent team, Ray Warrier, Jonathan Smalley and Gary Roberts) with all the bright ideas never do, do they?


My permanancy as a member of staff was something less that my ID tag implied and I accepted (welcomed would probably be more apt) redundancy in 2004.

Not wishing to withdraw entirely from the ever-changing and interesting, if not intriguing, world of telecommunications, I started my own telecommunications consultancy business. This had limited success due to changes in the NHS regulations for hiring contractors and the vice-like grip of BT on this lucrative market, with its managed, strategic and expensive NHS network.

I am now retired and busier than ever, involved in local community projects and helping local people with technical computer and telecommunications issues, the work being its own reward. That is, of course, apart frpm my own DIY projects and many interests.

The picture of me you see on page one was taken while helming a 40 foot yacht, sailing up the Kyle of Bute. I don’t sail these days, because I can’t afford to keep a yacht and a house and, in any case, I don’t live near any water on which I particularly want to sail. Now if I lived in Devon or Cornwall, I might decide to make my home on a decent sailing vessel if I could find a satisfactory mooring. Perhaps one of my most significant achievements since moving to Lancashire is the acquisition of my Day Skipper Ticket. It was certainly just the ticket for me.

I also enjoy walking and have the West Pennine Moors virtually on my doorstep, although I am not up to the standard of a 19th-century, local celebrity, Ralph Rooney, who undertook several long-distance walks, covering over 40 miles a day.