Time called on Time and Tiny

By Alun Williams

Posted on 27 Jul 2005 at 12:38

The company behind the Time and Tiny brands goes into administration, having notched up losses as great as £2m a month since the start of the year.

Amid much speculation, Granville Technology confirmed the news to the BBC, earlier today.

The company chairman Bill Davies was quoted as saying that 'it could well be the case' that the company is close to collapse.

Since that report, it has now been revealed that the company has gone into administration and appointed Andrew Hosking, Martin Ellis and Les Ross of Grant Thornton UK LLP as joint administrators.

The group cites 'competitive pressures' as the reason for the collapse of the firm, wiping out margins. Although no financial accounts have been filed since 2003, management accounts reveal losses of up to £2m a month since the start of the year.

As such the administrators have decided to not attempt to sell on the business as a going concern.

Granville Technology is headquartered at Simonstone near Burnley in Lancashire and employs some 1,600 staff. All save 100 of them will be made redundant.

The administrators said: 'The Group has fallen victim to the continued price deflation in the personal computer market, exacerbated by a softening of consumer demand in recent months, and pressure from suppliers. These redundancies were therefore inevitable.

'The joint administrators hope to be able to maintain the existing customer support operation; a further announcement in this matter will be made shortly. In the meantime, phone calls to existing customer support numbers will continue to be dealt with.'

The Time Computers website is also still operating.

A phone line has also been set up for creditors and customers including those that have made orders but not yet received them. It is 0870 381 7097.

Granville Technology's constituent companies are Time Computers, Tiny Computers, Time Education and the Computer Shop retail chain.

It has more than 2 million computers in homes and schools across the UK.

In 2002 Time Computers took over Tiny Computers, acquiring the business and certain assets for an undisclosed price, after Tiny went into administration.