HTEC, a specialist developer and supplier of point-of-sale, payment and loyalty systems, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

From small beginnings as High Technology Electronics Ltd in 1979, HTEC now has more than 250 employees and is wholly owned by Universe Group plc.

Jeremy Lewis, CEO of Universe Group plc said: “We are delighted to have reached this milestone, especially in such a competitive market, and we would like to say thank you to our valued customers and staff for making the last 40 years so successful. These are exciting times for the group, especially since Celtech joined the family. We look forward to continuing to provide our customers with innovative solutions, best-of-breed customer care and are looking forward to a bright future.”

The company was renamed HTEC in 1988 and started working with NCR in 1989 to develop an EFT terminal which offered the precursor technology to create the HTEC loyalty terminal; while 1991 saw the growth of the company’s work within the forecourt industry with its loyalty solutions expanding into Total Oil and Mobil Oil, as well as retail expansion into Argos. This growth continued in 1993 when HTEC purchased a petrol station till system and its loyalty solutions spread throughout Europe, US and Canada.

Another milestone occurred in April 2019 when Celtech Software Group, a developer of retail and wholesale management solutions based in Dublin, joined the Universe Group.