About 1,500 jobs will go after the UK's largest computer maker, which produces Tiny and Time PCs, went into administration and closed its 80 shops. Lancashire-based Granville Technology Group has been making monthly losses of up to £2m since the start of the year.
All directors of the company, except its non-executive chairman, left ahead of Wednesday's announcement. Many customers are believed to have paid for goods in recent days but have yet to receive them.
A helpline has been set up to provide information to customers and creditors: 0870 830 3288. E-mail address is:
enquiries-time@gtuk.com. Customers and creditors now face an uncertain future as computers were sold with warranties and deals with schools and colleges included service contracts.
Administrators Grant Thornton have said they will maintain a customer support operation and plan to make a further announcement soon.
Severe difficulties
About two million Tiny and Time PCs are used in homes and schools around the UK.
What next for worried Tiny customers?
Granville's financial situation worsened in recent days, leading to the closure of all its Computer Shop stores across the UK on Tuesday - shoppers had been told the closures were for stocktaking. Grant Thornton said the scale of the company's losses meant that it could not continue trading making redundancies "inevitable".
"The group has fallen victim to the continued price deflation in the personal computer market," said joint administrators Andrew Hosking, Martin Ellis and Les Ross. Customers were told the company's stores were shut for stocktaking
Granville employs about 1,600 staff, with most employed at its headquarters in Simonstone, near Burnley. Only about 100 will keep their jobs for the time being.
Staff were told about its financial position on Wednesday, but many complained that they had been left completely in the dark about its problems.
Unions said the job cuts were "devastating".
The GMB union said it had sought urgent talks with the firm in the past few days but had not been able to gain any information.
It is to ask the Department of Trade and Industry to investigate the company's collapse and the role played by its directors.
Two directors quit the company last month leaving just two executives - headed by non-executive chairman Bill Davies - to run the business.
"The GMB is angry that the management have let the company run down to this point without saying anything," said Graham Coxon, GMB organiser in Lancashire.
"We will be seeking immediate talks with the administrators to see if there are any viable options to save jobs and to get proper compensation for those who have lost jobs."
Production of Tiny and Time computers in Lancashire is to end
Nigel Evans, MP for Ribble Valley in which the company's offices are situated, called for a "full investigation" into the firm's collapse.
"I would like to know who knew how bad it was for the company and why action wasn't taken at any earlier date," he told the BBC.
Late accounts
The company's profitability has been affected by falling PC prices and intense global competition.
According to Grant Thornton, Granville has not filed any accounts since June 2003 when it recorded a £2.5m profit and sales of £207m.
However, it said the company had been making monthly losses of between £1m and £2m since January.
The company is owned by British businessman Tahir Moshan, who resigned as managing director last year.
