Filofax

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Filofax UK

Type	Personal organisers
Founded	1921
Headquarters	West Sussex
Parent	Letts Filofax Group Ltd
Website	filofax.co.uk

Filofax is a company based in the UK that produces a range of personal organisers that are traditionally leather bound and have a six-ring loose-leaf binder system. The design originated at Lefax, a Philadelphia based company whose products they imported into the UK.

These organisers are available in over fifteen countries in the following sizes: A4, A5, Slimline, Personal, Pocket, Mini, Compact and Pocket Slimline.

The name originates from an abbreviation of the phrase "file of facts". This name for the product was coined when the UK company was founded in 1921. The popularity of the Filofax grew enormously during the early 1980's due, in part, to them being stocked by the British fashion designer Paul Smith in his shops. They were associated with Yuppie Culture.

The company was known as Norman & Hill until the mid 1980's when it rebranded itself, taking the name of its most popular product. For much of its life it was based in South Woodford, East London. In the early 1980s it moved to Barkingside, Essex. In the early 1990s it moved its offices to London and subcontracted its warehouse operation to Crick in Northamptonshire.

Famous devotees of the Filofax products include Lord Lichfield, and Diane Keaton who had a product named after her, the DK Coin Holder.

Filofax is part of the UK-based Letts Group. In 2006, Phoenix Equity Partners led a secondary buy out of the business. The deal provided an exit for private equity firm Dunedin Capital Partners.

[edit] Other meanings

Filofax is also the UK name of the film Taking Care of Business, which is based around a Filofax personal organiser (and thus one's entire identity) being stolen.

[edit] External links

• http://www.filofax.co.uk/
• http://www.filofax.com/int/
• http://www.filofaxusa.com/
• http://philofaxy.blogspot.com
• http://groups.yahoo.com/group/filofax/