GST Computer Systems

GST was a group of computer companies based in Cambridge, England, founded by Dr Jeff Fenton in June 1979. The company worked with Sinclair Research, Torch Computers, Acorn Computers, Monotype Corporation and Kwik-Fit, amongst others.

The group included:

• GST Computer Systems: the original name of the company.

• GST Professional Services: a software consultancy that was sold and became OTIB A.T.

• GST Software Products: produced retail software, most notably Timeworks Publisher.

• GST Training Centre: a class based software training provider in Cambridgeshire, UK.

• Electric Software: a games software label, producing titles for home computers such as the Commodore 64, Sinclair ZX Spectrum and MSX-compatible models in the early 1980s.

GST Computer Systems started as a contract software development company. In 1983, it became involved with Sinclair Research, producing the 68K/OS operating system (later rejected by Sinclair) and development software for the Sinclair QL. In 1985 it was approached by Atari to port products from the QL on to the just to be launched Atari ST. The word processing package 1st Word was bundled with every Atari ST for the first two years of its life and GST became the leading software supplier for the Atari ST platform.

In 1987 GST developed its first desktop publishing application, Timeworks Publisher. This was sold in the USA by Timeworks, Inc. (a Chicago...
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