Ali Athar has spent decades developing technology for retailers, from his early career in IBM databases to founding itim, the AIM-listed retail software company.
Athar graduated from Cambridge University and spent five years at IBM as a database specialist before founding systems design and integration company Inforem in 1982. After its acquisition by CSC, he spent two years as a director before establishing itim in 1993 as a retail consulting business.
Itim initially advised retailers including Woolworths, Booker, Burger King, Marks & Spencer, Homebase and B&Q on business transformation. The company began developing its own software in 1999 and focused exclusively on digital technology by 2004.
Its software connects retail operations, including stock management, pricing, ordering and store systems. The aim is to help retailers use their existing stores and inventory to fulfil online orders, offer local collection and improve stock visibility.
Majestic Wine provides an example through its Shop Local service, built on itim’s Unify platform. The service allows customers to view and buy live stock held at nearby stores. According to the project case study, Shop Local accounted for one in three online orders within 18 months of launch.
Itim also developed a business-to-business ordering portal for Majestic, replacing manual and telephone-based ordering for more than 3,000 commercial customers. The projects received three Retail Systems Awards in 2025.
Itim joined the London Stock Exchange’s AIM market in June 2021, raising £8 million before expenses at an admission price of 154p per share.
For the six months to June 2026, itim reported revenue of £8.6 million and profit before tax of £200,000. Booked recurring revenue was £7.4 million, representing 86% of revenue.
The company has also moved into artificial intelligence with itimAIQ, which is designed to connect retail systems with large language models using retail-specific business information.
itim Group plc (LON:ITIM) is a SaaS-based technology company that enables store-based retailers to optimise their businesses to improve financial performance and effectively compete with online competitors. Itim adds retail value by helping multi-channel retailers optimise their business and their stores to improve financial performance and compete more effectively with the “Amazons”.
