End of Time creates an opportunity for resellers

The UK's last remaining PC assembler/retailer goes under, leaving others to pick up the pieces

Channel players are hoping to salvage some of the business left up for grabs, as the UK’s last remaining PC assembler/retailer, Time Computers, gave up the fight last week and went into administration.

The firm had lost between £7m and £14m since January. Administrator Grant Thornton was appointed to Granville Techn`ology Group, owner of Time and Tiny.com, on 27 July. The Group’s last financial accounts were for the year ended 30 June 2003, and reported a pre-tax profit of £2.5m against a turnover of £207m.

A statement from Grant Thornton said: “Due to the scale of the losses that the business has suffered during the current year and the competitive pressures on the sector, which have led to the eradication of margins on sales, the joint administrators have decided not to attempt to trade the business as a going concern.

“The Group has fallen victim to the continued price deflation in the PC market, exacerbated by a softening of consumer demand in recent months, and pressure from suppliers.”

Around 1,500 staff have been made redundant.

However, channel players may stand to benefit from the situation. Jon Atherton, group vice-president of Enta Technologies, said: “In the longer term, I think we will see more customers looking to buy products from more local, established reseller and retail businesses. There is a future for UK systems builders but they need to make sure that they keep their costs as low as possible, provide excellent and reliable systems and remain flexible enough to adapt to changing market conditions.”

Hamish Thompson, a Dixon’s representative, said: “We would be happy to provide technical and aftersales support to any Time customers. We have Microsoft trained engineers, that can deal with all brands of PCs.”

Kevin Collins, joint managing director of Computer World Wales, said: "There is likely to be an opportunity to get extra business. although Time/Tiny dealt more with the home users and micro-sized businesses. However, it is the micro-sized businesses that have the potential for growth, so it is a good opportunity to get in with them in the early stages. It won't have a huge impact on our business, but we will be looking into it."