You could be forgiven for thinking the Filofax was an Eighties invention, but the Sussex company which makes them is celebrating its 80th anniversary.

At its peak it was synonymous with Yuppies, the young upwardly mobile city workers whose fast lives and conspicuous consumption were immortalised in movies like Wall Street.

But by the end of the decade Yuppies were becoming a cliche, Britain was nudging towards a recession and even Del Trotter had a Filofax.

The brand was dismissed as pass.

So it is odd to think the Sussex-based company that has been designing high-quality personal organisers since the Twenties is celebrating its 80th birthday this month.

Despite a few design tweaks, its formula remains resolutely the same as in the early days.

Ron Laing, managing director of Filofax, said: "A lot of people had never heard of Filofax until the 1980s.

"Up until then it had basically been a small mail order company catering mainly for the armed forces and the clergy.

"It was an incredible period for the company. Every celebrity seemed to have a Filofax.

"After that there was a move towards electronic organisers but now the trend is for people to have both.

"The product itself has not changed that much since the early days. However, colours, styles and sizes are altered all the time to keep up with changing fashions.

"Up to 40 per cent of our stock changes every year. Our most recent designs also have a space to slot in a mobile phone."

Filofax, which has been based in Burgess Hill since 1997, started out as The Norman & Hill Company.

The company was set up in 1921 to market personal organisers, which were based on the American Organiser System which dated back to the First World War.

The name, originally coined from the first name, File of Facts, was registered in 1930 as a trademark.

The company's London offices were bombed in 1940 during the Second World War and had it not been for the secretary Grace Scurr, who recorded all business transactions in her organiser, the company would have closed.

She went on to became chairman of the company and there is even a commemorative Filofax design named after her.

In 1970 David and Lesley Collischon set up a mail order business called Pocket fax and bought the Filofax brand.

Until the late Seventies the main Filofax users were the Army, the clergy, doctors and judges.

Then suddenly there was an explosion of interest and the Filofax was recognised worldwide as a number-one brand.

In 1990 Filofax Group was formed, a holding company with operating subsidiaries.

Filofax was moved to Burgess Hill in 1997, then in 1998 it was subject to a £50.3 million buy-out from its American equivalent, Day Runner.

But fashions change and, as Filofax lost its cache, profits slumped.

Last year the Burgess Hill factory and a printing works in Littlehampton closed down with the loss of 130 jobs.

Sixty staff continue to work at the Burgess Hill offices handling sales and marketing.

The company's business interests in the US had been badly hit by major supermarkets cutting back on stocks of personal organisers in favour of electronic equipment.

It switched the production of the organisers overseas on cost grounds.

In January the company was put up for sale by Day Runner.

However, Mr Laing said: "Many people are suspicious of new technology and for some things a Filofax is simply more practical than an electronic organiser.

"We are seeing new customers all the time.

"Having said that, the letters we receive from the public if we try to make simple changes are incredible.

"There are a lot people who have had the same Filofax for years and just keep updating them.

"They cannot bear it if anything is altered."