Honeyframe seeks creditors' arrangement

Troubled hardware reseller Honeyframe Corporate Computing is hoping to secure a company voluntary arrangement to pay back its creditors.

Troubled hardware reseller Honeyframe Corporate Computing is hoping to secure a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) to pay back its creditors.

The Telford-based company, which has been trading since June 1995 as a subsidiary of Honeyframe Computer Holdings, has fallen victim to "difficult trading conditions within the computer hardware industry", according to a representative.

Two other arms of Honeyframe Computer Holdings - Honeyframe Technical Services and Honeyframe Software Development - will continue trading as normal.

Insolvency practitioner Irwin & Co has been appointed by the company to lodge the application for the CVA. According to a representative of Irwin & Co, there has been "a lot of goodwill from certain major suppliers", which will allow the CVA to work "satisfactorily to the benefit of creditors".

There are likely to be a few job losses, he added, but was not prepared to comment further on the situation. There are no plans to sell the company.

Eddie Pacey, credit controller at Ideal Hardware, a creditor of Honeyframe, said Ideal had been notified of the CVA intention but had "heard nothing since". He added that Ideal has decided to begin legal proceedings, which will include a petition to wind up the firm. Honeyframe has fallen victim to a "tricky time for resellers", he said.

The hardware market has been badly affected by the residue of 'lock-down' policies of customers who are not spending as much as expected.

Andy Brown, analyst at IDC, said the situation will worsen for hardware resellers as vendors put pressure on their channel partners to prove themselves.

"Resellers should make sure they have major players such as IBM, Hewlett Packard and Compaq on their side to achieve their margins," he added.