Time Computers, which sank into administration last summer leaving debts of £70m and the loss of more than 500 jobs, rose from the ashes last week as a new company, Time UK Factory.
According to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, the new company, which is backed by two of the original founders of Time Computers, Dr Tariq Mohammed and Tahir Mohsan, plans to produce PCs and large screen televisions in what was the Time Computers factory at Simonstone near Burnley.
Granville Technology Group (GTG), the parent company of Time Computers, has been in administration since July 2005.
A spokesman for the administrators, Grant Thornton, confirmed that the Time name had been sold as part of the disposal of GTG's assets, and said that the company that bought it "had nothing whatsoever to do with the previous owners".
MPs have called for an inquiry into the collapse of Granville amid claims that millions of pounds are unaccounted for. However, the Grant Thornton spokesman told ZDNet UK that "there is no suggestion that money has been shooting off all over the place".
Another asset of GTG was the Tiny Computers name, which was sold to Watford Electronics in November. Tiny Computers had been acquired by GTG after it had first gone into administration some years previously. Grant Thornton were also the administrators on that occasion.
The Mohsans sold their interest in GTG/Time Computers some time before the company went into administration. The Mohsans had been heavily criticised for their stewardship of Time Computers by employees of the company. Some have claimed that the Mohsans had continued to be involved with the various Time/Tiny/GTG companies after severed formal ties with the companies.
The resumption of manufacturing at Simonstone could be good news for many of the ex-employees of GTG who have been out of work since the plant closed down. However, the thousands of customers who lost money when GTG went into administration have no more hope of recovering their money.
Brian Trevaskiss, a spokesman for the new company, told the Lancashire Evening Telegraph that the Time factory "is up and running and our direct sales operation will be starting in February or the beginning of March.
"We currently have around 30 employees, but we expect this to grow when we begin the direct sales operation."
Mr Trevaskiss said the company would not rule out taking on former employees or some of those made redundant at the nearby Philips TV glass factory last year.
Prior to the collapse of GTG, Trevaskiss was the marketing director of Tiny.com.
Talkback
Brian Trevaskiss? Working for Tahir again? WTF? You think the brothers would have learnt that the idiot 'yes' men who were part of GTG were one of the reasons it crashed and burned!
I spent 7years working for GTG and saw nearly every venture go pear-shaped....
Time Talk, Time Xtra, Tiny.com, Tiny Plasma's, the new call centre and the list could go on and on.
The only way Tahir and Dr. T will make a success of this new business will to be to get rid of the middle management dead wood that was there before and employ of team of skilled and dedicated people who know how to run a business.
Otherwise the next thing you know there'll be another bankrupcy on Blackburn Road.
would that be the words of a former manager in N3 area???
I was one of the lucky people to find employment almost straight away after losing my job - I said to my new Manager today, "you know, I really enjoy going home at night and leaving this job here in this building".
Not working for Time is the best thing that could have happened to me. I can now go into work, smile on my face, NO stress, and leave it there when I go home... What a difference 6 months has made on my life. I learned a harsh lesson last July, that no matter what anyone puts into Time Computers, they'll never get any rewards... I used to care for this company, and thats where I went wrong.
The only thing I miss, are the fantastic people I worked with.
Thanks Anonymous, but I'm afraid I'm of the southern clan!
The good old days of Andy VB, Allan D,and Steve K all of who were my AMs are now sadly gone.
The sooner that the brothers realise these kind of people made their business and should have fought tooth and nail to keep their kind the better.
i worked at burnley store n although we were all badly let down with the way the redundancies and pay were handled in the end, i must admi,t i miss going to work and havin laugh wi all other members of staff. i still keep in touch wi every1 from my shop and although the pressure to perform saleswise and keep the shop runnin was awful and unrealistic we all remained friends and would be there now if it wasn't for the insolvency. i'd go back tomorrow!!
The facrt that thisbunch of crooks are allowed anywhere near any business in this country is appauling. The fact that the same faces are fronting essentially the same business after going bankrupt in such a manner I find totally reprehensible
Technically they severed all links with the old compnay before it's insolvency and interestingly it seems that technically the tiny factory wasn't part of granville Anyone who worked for Granville knows that the compnay survived on tecnialities and shirking it's responsiblities to cusomters and employees in any way it could.
So anonymous from the burnley store, who are u???? i ran the store for a while, but prior to it closing...... as well as playing ridiculously loud music for the whole of st james st ;o)
and you employed me MGB!!! its becky. for all te shit it was a laugh and i loved it!!
I feel sorry for all the customers who lost thousands, the small companies who went bust or close to it, the staff both in Head Office and out in the stores, the Banks who had the bad luck to get involved in this tangled web of comapnies and everyone who's lives were affected by the convinient collpase of several small but significant parts of Time Computers network.
I was fortunate to leave long before the collapse but saw the signs of the impending disaster, after 5 years instore and 2 at Head Ofiice It was no surprise to see this happen and even less of a surprise that the receivers struggled to find anything of value left.
Its pleasing to see that they've re-employed the family friends and half-wits who many point to and blame for the collapse and its to be seen how they will survive.
Lets hope the Banks, Press, ZDNet, receivers, Government bodies (there for our protection?) and mostly the British buying public don't forget the history of this company and all the people who's lives have been ruined by the business practises up in Burnley.
My computer crashed. I put re install disc back in.But noe its asking for a code. PLEASE HELP?.