Three tech pioneers cash in

Three UK industry pioneers have cashed in their stocks. The big winner is telecoms pioneer Asher Grant, who sold his company for the second time to pull in around £30m. Centrica, the British Gas subsidiary, has paid £43m for the alternative telecoms company.

Gratt started the north London-based company in 1996 and sold out to his joint venture partner in 1998 for £8m. Three years later he bought the company from the liquidators of Viatel. His partner, Manchester-based investor Bernard Lebrecht, has picked up most of the rest of the bonanza which will see the company merged into One.Tel.

Telco Global has nearly 250,000 residential customers and 11,000 business accounts and last year doubled profits to £4.8m on turnover up 75 per cent to £231m.

The two founders of Trafficmaster, the pioneering UK car satellite navigation and jam locator system, have sold off some of their holdings in the company. Co-founder David Martel, now just a major shareholder, sold off three million shares, most through a family trust, at 82.5p per share.

The move leaves him with 3.086 million shares. Fellow founder, Ian Williams, a non-executive director, has cashed in one million shares at the same price and still has 2.3 million shares. Founded in 1988, Trafficmaster started as a pilot traffic detection scheme on the M25. Earlier this month it reported £3.5m profit on turnover of £17m for the half year.