Home > British Calculators

Decimo

Decimo marketed a confusing number of similar and similarly named hand-held calculators.

Known Decimo calculators :-

Mechanical Desk Calculators

• 10-key Add-lister

Electronic Desk Calculators

• Vatman OFFICE DELUXE
• Vatman 120DLX
• timemachine

Electronic Hand-held Calculators

• 2001
• 2001-e.
• Da Vinci III
• Handy M
• International
• Memory
• Memory Man
• Memory Man II
• Scientific Superman
• Strand
• Super Vatman (PI, square root keys)
• Super Vatman (Function key)
• Super Vatman M
• Super Vatman SS. I
• Super Vatman SS II
• Vatman BOSS
• Vatman (several versions)
• Vatman Extra M
• Vatman Extra S
• Vatman Executive, red LED and green VFD versions.
• Vatman Memory
• Vatman MINI
• Vatman MINI II
• Vatman MINI M
• Vatman MINI M II
• Vatman mini office
• Vatman Mini Office II
• Vatman Popular
• Vatman Scientific
• Vatman Spy
• Vatman Student
• Vatman Super Spy
• Vatman V.Sc. I
• Vatman V.Sc. II
• Vatman X

Supplied to other companies:

• Strand Memory - Supplied to W.H. Smith, a British nationwide chain of stores.

Click on an image for a larger picture and technical details -

Vatman Extra S

Vatman Executive (red LED and green VFD versions)

Vatman X

Supplied to other companies

Strand Memory

The significance of the name "Vatman" -

     In April 1973, about the time that pocket calculators were becoming common, Purchase Tax was abolished in Britain, to be replaced by Value Added Tax (VAT). Instead of being applied solely at the point of retail, this tax is applied at all points during the manufacture and distribution of most items when value is added to a product.

     As may be imagined, this caused great confusion and difficulties for many companies and stores, and the newspapers carried many stories of raids by tax inspectors on those who had not paid their VAT properly. The name which the popular newspapers have given to these despised inspectors is "vatman", in headlines such as "The vatman demands unpaid tax of £ x0,000 from XYZ company or the owner will go to jail".

     So the name VATMAN on a calculator can give you an idea of what it will be useful for, and also makes you smile at its incongruousness.

Decimo Ltd.

Decimo was founded by Douglas Dorsett in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The company  had about 50 employees and marketed a wide range of office products, apparently just in the UK.

Products included cash registers, photocopiers, dictating machines, electronic safes, electronic scales, and also some of the early digital watches (Blue Max). Many of the electronic calculators were manufactured by Phoenix in Japan.

Douglas Dorsett semi-retired some time around 1990 and his son-in-law John Hadjipourou took over control. However, although turn over was very large, revenue dropped, and the company closed down in about 1992.

Grateful thanks to Ian Travis for information about the company.

Vintage Calculators

© Text & photographs copyright Nigel Tout  2000-2008 except where noted otherwise.