Evesham left debts of £6.8m

No surplus funds for unsecured creditors

By Kelly Fiveash • Get more from this author

Posted in PC Builder, 12th October 2007 11:33 GMT

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DTE joint administrator J M Titley said in the statement that the most likely fate of Evesham was a Creditors' Voluntary Liquidation (CVL).

The statement also bangs the same drum as ex-chairman Richard Austin, who blamed Evesham's demise on the government's sudden withdrawal of the Home Computing Initiative (HCI) scheme.

It said: "The unexpected end to the HCI scheme put tremendous pressure on [Evesham] Technology's resources and despite diversifying into new markets and establishing many new areas of business it was impossible to fill the enormous gap in turnover [£30m for 2007] left by the demise of HCI.

"Losses accrued to such an extent culminating in the withdrawal of suppliers credit insurance such that the company sought professional help from insolvency and recovery specialists."

However, as we reported previously, Austin had proclaimed in 2006 that Evesham was far too robust to be directly hit by the HCI scheme being scrapped.

The statement also noted that at the time of Evesham going bust Austin had an overdrawn directors' loan account of £650,000.

DTE said it had accepted a £150,000 settlement with the co-founder, who had been at the firm for nearly a quarter of a century, but added that if Austin "has additional assets, further recoveries can be made".

The report also showed that as of May 2007, Evesham's cash at the bank and in hand stood at £209,000, compared to £203,000 the previous year, and £2.4m in 2005.

Meanwhile, the Evesham brand, under Austin's directorship has continued to trade, propped up by TimeUK founder Tahir Mohsan's Dubai-based outfit PCC Technology. ®