Time to start selling computers again
TimeUK.com, a company that has taken over the business of Time Computers, will open for business again on Wednesday when it starts to take orders for its range of PCs, laptops, plasma screens and TVs on its Web site.
All the products sold on the site will be assembled at the original site of Time Computers, the Time Technology Park at Simonstone near Burnley in Lancashire, by a new company, Time UK Factory.
This follows the collapse of Granville Technology Group, parent company of Time Computers, last summer.
Brian Trevaskiss, the head of marketing of the two new companies and Time Computers, told ZDNet UK that initially "the company will have about 25 people but we plan to expand that. It just depends on the business".
Trevaskiss confirmed to ZDNet UK that the company is owned by Zia Mohsan who is listed at Companies House as a director of the company, and that Mohsan's brother, Tahir, and half-brother, Dr Tariq Mohammed, were "giving their full support to the company".
Tariq Mohammed and Tahir Mohsan were the founders of Time Computers. According to Trevaskiss, Tahir left the company "three or four years ago" while Tariq left "about 12 months before the collapse."
Tahir Mohsan is also the chairman and chief executive of Time Group Middle East (TGME). In July last year, as word spread of the collapse of Time Computers in the UK, Tahir announced a $40m investment to build an assembly factory for PCs and other electronics goods at Dubai's Silicon Oasis. Trevaskiss said that TGME "is completely separate from Time over here. I certainly don't know anything about it".
Granville went into administration in July last summer, before collapsing leaving debts of £70m and the loss of more than 500 jobs.
A spokesman for the administrators, Grant Thornton, said in January that the Time name had been sold as part of the disposal of Granville'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.