// AO.com co-founder Alan Latchford has died at the age of 61.
// Latchford left the online retailer due to poor health in 2006
AO.com co-founder Alan Latchford has passed away at the age of 61.
Latchford left the online appliances and electricals retailer due to poor health in 2006.
The company, originally named Appliances Online, was started after a £1 bet with co-founder and chief executive John Roberts.
“Like all the best businesses, it started in the pub,” Roberts told Retail Week.
“It was Christmas Eve and I was having a drink with Alan Latchford, who is the L of DRL.
“He bet me a pound I wouldn’t do it.”
Roberts said he wasn’t aware of the internet when he started the retailer but he teamed up with Latchford, who had experience building websites and created what would become AO.com.
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