It was one of the UK's largest internet retailers of IT and technology products.

[2] dabs.com was founded in Bolton by David Atherton and Bruce Smith[3] in 1987;[2] Dabs is an acronym of the initials of the founders' names.

It subsequently grew to employ more than 200 people, with annual revenue of £200m from 5000 transactions daily.

[1] The company's operations in France were subsequently closed at the end of May 2006.

[6][7] This included the closure of the dabs.ie website for the Republic of Ireland and the end of consumer-oriented sales there on the same date.