Tahir Mohsan, one of the original founders of Granville Technology Group, is reportedly in talks with the company's administrators and bankers, trying to broker a deal that could save hundreds of jobs.

The UK's biggest PC maker and retailer, which made and sold PCs under the Time and Tiny brands, went into administration yesterday with the loss of 1,500 jobs. On Tuesday it closed its retail stores after the bank refused to process credit card transactions.

Asian Business Federation chief executive Khalid Saifullah, told The Times Online: "We have been on the phone with the family to discuss the situation. Talks have been held with HSBC, the directors and the administrators at Grant Thornton about saving as many jobs as possible."

Grant Thornton, the company's administrators, would not comment on the news.

As many as 1,500 people were made redundant yesterday. Lancashire police confirmed that a number of officers attended the Granville Technologies headquarters on Wednesday when the redundancies were being announced.

A police spokeswoman told The Register: "There was some concern that there might have been trouble. Police did attend but it passed largely without incident." Patrols have been made aware of the situation, she added.

The administrators said yesterday that price deflation and softening demand had combined with supplier pressure to put the company into administration. The latest figures filed at Companies House show that Time posted £2.5m profit on turnover of £207m in the year ended 30 June 2003, but no accounts have been filed since. ®

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Granville Technology goes into administration
Time shutters stores
Tiny transforms into e-business