Anniversary Post 1: 1993 – Not a Marathon year…


It is 22 years this week since we began trading.  Like all anniversaries, it’s a good to take a little time to look back and reflect on just how far we’ve come since we opened for business back in 1993.

However, when we started to do this we were astounded at just how much has changed since Excel’s vending machines first started to appear in your buildings.  So much so, we’ve decided to take you for a trip down memory lane every day this week.  Therefore, from today until Friday we will hopefully capture your imagination and conjure up a few memories with some events and facts from the last 22 years.

Today we start with a general overview of 1993, and then we will have a look at other topics such as, Entertainment, Technology, other notable companies or brands celebrating 22 years in business.

Make sure to watch out for each post, we are sure you’ll find them intriguing.

1993 – Not a Marathon year…

Back in 1993, just as we were preparing our first vending machines for operation things looked very different in the world.  The Internet was unheard of, but more about that during the week. Opal Fruits

Opal Fruits were stock items for us, but of course, in 1998 they were rebranded as Starburst.  We also thought Marathon chocolate bars were part of our stock, but on checking the dates, we were amazed to find out they had already changed to Snickers 3 years earlier in 1990.

On the subject of food, a loaf of bread cost 39p, and a pint of milk was 34p.  Other everyday items were also much cheaper; a 1st Class Stamp was 25p compared to today’s 62p, and petrol was 46p per litre.

However, in 1993 we were thinking all was good because the interest rate had dropped to its lowest level since 1978 to 6% – currently it is 0.5%!

World Leaders

Bill, John and Boris weren’t the latest boy band; they were world leaders in the form of Bill Clinton, John Major, and Boris Yeltsin.

The boy band of the day was in fact Take That who were enjoying chart success with a string of hits throughout 1993.

In addition, just as Take That dominated the charts, Steffi Graff and Pete Sampras dominated Tennis, both of them winning the lion’s share of the Grand Slams that year.  And in golf, 18-year-old Tiger Woods was winning his third US Amateur Championship.  It is hard to believe such an illustrious professional golfing career didn’t start until we had celebrated our third birthday!

Aston Martin

If motoring is more your thing, 1993 saw the launch of several cars that are still around today, Fiat Punto, Kia Sportage, Peugeot 306, and Mercedes Benz C Class all emerged in 1993.  Undoubtedly, the most beautiful car launched that year was the Aston Martin DB7.

We were ‘between Bond’s’, Golden Eye was in production, and Pierce Brosnan was getting ready to get behind the wheel of the famous marque.

Lot’s happened in the world of entertainment in 1993, tomorrow we’ll explore what was a truly tremendous year of film, so please stay tuned!

If you have found this post interesting, please share it with your online community; there is a good chance they will find it interesting too. Thank you.

Tomorrow we take a look at the world of entertainment in 1993 – please watch out for it.

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