Battling Ravelle goes under

Manchester-based Var Ravelle has succumbed to receivership despite a desperate battle to keep on trading.

Manchester-based Var Ravelle has succumbed to receivership despite a desperate battle to keep on trading.

The company, which supplies computer systems, software and office furniture, went into official receivership last week.

Accountancy firm PwC has been called in to handle the proceedings and is looking for a potential buyer for all or part of the company.

According to a representative from the receiver, several interested parties have already inspected the company's books.

"We have had quite a few inquiries about Ravelle from a mixture of vendors and resellers," she said, adding that assets up for sale include a freehold property and a debtors book.

So far about 40 Ravelle staff have been made redundant, but the representative refused to comment on whether further job losses would follow.

"We are fairly confident that we will find a buyer for the assets of the company but cannot comment on the staffing situation at this time," she said.

No one from Ravelle was available for comment.

Ravelle's road to receivership
Ravelle has hit the headlines on several occasions during the past few months, including a legal battle with a German reseller that claimed Ravelle owed it £14,000 for a number of Windows NT licences which failed to arrive.

Three senior members of staff walked out over the incident. A representative said that the company was in a "tinder-dry situation".

Ravelle was also involved in legal action against business information company Dun & Bradstreet earlier in the year after it was mistaken for another company called Ravelle Printers that went into receivership. The case was subsequently dropped.

First published in Computer Reseller News