Troubled British PC maker Evesham Technology has been thrown a $22m lifeline by TimeUK founder, Tahir Mohsan. Evesham, which blamed the closure of the government-backed Home Computing Initiative (HCI) for landing it in financial hot water, said most of its stores will close under the restructure.
The Evesham-based firm has 16 …
I've just dropped my £3000 computer at Evesham for repair. Ever since the original purchase back in April I have found support to be very poor. I am now concerned what will happen to my computer??? No one at the main office showroom in Evesham mentioned anything about what was happening. I feel really sorry for you guys.
Having been at Evesham for the last three years, its a real shame how it all ended.
I'm sure Richard tried his best, but unfortunately the PC market is volatile and we just couldn't keep up. A lot of posters are conveniently ignoring the fact that we got payed a week early by Richard to ensure that we were payed for July.
However, the way the whole administration was conducted was clandestine, to say the least. Endless speculation during the last 2 months was the worst with the rumour mill being in full operation.
Recivieng an email at 4:25p.m directing half your team to the canteen and the other half downstairs.
Shutting off the email servers at 4:30 and having an administrator with short-man syndrome keeping it short (sic) by telling you to collect your belongings and leave the building with 5 minute notice was a bit difficult to stomach.
Made so many good friends at Evesham and its those who will be missed the most.
I hope for all the best to everyone I worked with and for the few guys still at the SHAM, hope it works out for you.
My mother worked at Evesham for over 10 years and yesterday, like many of her colleagues, was suddenly told she no longer had a job (although her Manager didn't even have the decency to tell her face to face and only called her on her mobile after much cajolling by her colleagues on site).
It appears that the staff were sent X Factor style into two rooms to await their fate with one being the "Winning room" (ha ha) and keeping their jobs and the other employees being told to leave almost immediately. Surely, if the company has been put into administration, as stated by RA, how can certain employees be retained and others told to leave when no appropriate consultation period or selection process for redundancy had taken place previously. Who decided which employees stayed and which didn't and upon which set of criteria was this based upon according to appropriate employment law? Who will the employees be working for from Monday and will they need to reapply for their own jobs?
So many questions... but what I really feel is that those employees who have been so badly let down should not give up and roll over. Let Richard Austin and his merry men know exactly what a mistake they made in treating such loyal staff so badly by showing them what you are capable of. Why not jointly appoint a legal representative to advise upon the legality of these actions? Set up a pressure group, contact local and national media, whistleblow and tell your stories. Do not let this lie and do not allow the Directors to walk away and continue to trade upon the good Evesham name - let it become synonymous with underhanded dealings, lies and deceit from a Management that should have known better and should have done much more to protect its loyal staff.
1) Were any of the staff in a union? If so which one, and are they on the case?
2) Have you heard anything from the DTI about redundancy payments? You should have been given claim forms to fill in. Have you? If not get onto the DTI urgently
3) Who are the administrators? So far I've not seen them identified anywhere.
As an ex-after sales support technician (tech support) dealing with the more tricky issues, I can safely say that it's unsurprising that the company had ended this way.
Constant releases of products that were basically un-fit for the intent in which they were sold, with little or no information about said products given to anyone in tech. In fact, only really the product managers ever got to see the products before our customers did, oh apart from the people who packed them into the boxes.
QA checks before equipment was sent out were non-existant, bad components were continuosly used (and sold) with known problems that *would* affect customers, presumably due to some cushy deal with said suppliers. R+D were completely unable to do their jobs and completely over-ruled by the profit margin. I personally was a specialist for one product, that I'd never even used .. we ended up learning more about our products from customers than from any internal source, not that the more senior technicians didn't try, but they were so bogged down with bereaucracy and an almost conspiratorial veil of secrecy over any information that could prove to be useful that they simply could not perform the job which they were aiming to do.
So essentially a company reliant on it's image was forced into selling inferior products coupled with an under-equipped after-sales department collapsed, as it was inevitably going to do in most people's eyes, and especially at the Director / MD level ..
Which is such an incredible waste as there were some truly talented people in tech support and across the whole company, a great bunch of people, united in the face of adversity until the end, unfortunately they've all been totally bitchslapped by the very hand that fed them.
I just hope that everyone can move on to other jobs and stay in contact with each other, and to all the ex and current employees of Evesham Technology Ltd - Nill Illigitimi Carborundum.
You ar right the margins in the PC industry are incredibly tight and the whole product area is a nightmare to try to deal in.
However - Evesham had diversified into TVs, PVRs etc to broaden their market and continue to bring in much needed cash and i for one know that although the margins may not have been earth shattering they were still good.
I think the problem most ex and current employees have is the shabby way the whole fiasco has been handled, to be herded into the staff canteen like a load of slaughterhouse cattle to be informed that they no longer had jobs was diabolical - where was the loyalty in that - these staff have been working their socks off in very trying circumstances to try to save not only their own jobs, but also the reputation of Evesham and to try to ensure that customers received the goods and services they had paid for - you have no idea how hard it was to try to explain to customers that we had no idea when their PC or TV would be with them and then watch critical components and hundreds of peripherals ship to Time's warehouse was annoying to say the least. The number of understandably irate people i have had to talk to recently is terrifying, i began to dread the phone ringing because whilst i could empathise with the customers i also did not deserve the amount of verbal abuse i receieved, especially when requests for senior management to contact some of the larger customers were ignored.
Yes Richard built the company from scratch and put a lot of effort into it's continued growth, but take a look at the real picture - i doubt he will be worrying where his next pay packet is coming from, whether he can clothe his children or even pay the mortgage next month and i very much doubt he will be off to the job centre on Monday to join the queue of people looking for a new job - on the contrary i am sure he will have ensured that his back is covered.
As a former manager I can tell you that HCI had an effect but it was not to solely to blame. All the directors played part, not just RA. More than anything he is guilty of letting a people run his company into the ground! The directors have all done a very poor job for the last 2 years. They have talked an awful lot about great plans and delivered nothing. The board has not been able to manage business sales properly for 4 or so years. Last count was 5 or 6 assorted managers and directors over the period and a steady decline. HCI was the great saviour and when that went the idea was to base everything we did on the HCI model because that was the great saviour. HCI HCI HCI… What a load of bollocks. They have just made one poor decision after another dating back to before Mertec was purchased.
All the directors were paid out a month ago and you can be sure the man at the top is not going to struggle. Hang your heads directors! I would also suggest not showing your faces around Evesham town for a while.
The last 2 months and Friday’s fiasco were disgusting and unforgivable.
I have one suggestion to the staff still there. Get Organised! Don’t take their rubbish! And get out as soon as you can!
Firstly I would like to say good luck to everyone that has gone, there ARE better jobs out there, where you WILL get better paid and get YEARLY salary increases
Any staff that are left will need to seek assurances that there is money to pay them, they should also be asked if they want to carry on working for this "sham" of a company and if they don't they too should be given redundancy
I was in Vale park, and passed by Eve, it was all deserted and shuttered up. There was a notice on the door.
Important Notice, Apologies due to low staff levels(due to annual leave) Evesham showroom will be closed Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th. We are open as usual on Monday the 6th. Sorry for any inconveience.
And as per another comment the mail servers are off.
this was the bounce, from a email sent to evesham.showroom@evesham.com via www.
This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.
lol no claim forms, nothing, the bailiffs turned up to close the branches and do stock counts, that was it.
If RA also took a group of people to one side at Evesham and basically told them that they've all got jobs, whilst the rest of the company 200-300+, were dumped on their backsides through administration - then I think he has a lot of industrial tribunals coming his way for unfair dismissal.
I suffered a similar blow at Elonex last year - the circumstances were remarkably similar - only the owner in that case didn't even have the guts to turn up the day it closed down. All I can add is a reassurance that the government's Redundancy Service were quick to pay the statutory redundancy money - but only after the statutory notice period had expired - in my case I was entitled to 7 weeks notice (after 7 years service) and my cheque arrived in week 8 after the shut-down. Another tip is to immediately look at any household insurance you may have that gives you free legal representation - and immediately ask them to consider your case for unfair dismissal due to lack of notice and for the lack of consultation over redundancy. You may then get something extra back after a long delay - my case has still not paid out after a year but a judgement has already been made in my favour by the Unfair Dismissal Tribunal. The sequence of payout has been: statutory minimum redundancy from the Redundancy Service; preferred creditor payout of any extra holiday pay and pay-in-lieu-of-notice when the company is liquidated; non-preferred creditor status for any unfair dismissal payment when Tribunal finally gives a judgement against the liquidated assets. All-in-all a poor substitute for fair treatment by the state and Evesham - but be quick to get over it and move on to another job. I was fortunate enough to find a job in another industry after 7 weeks (one that wasn't in a declining sector like PCs) and now enjoy annual pay rises, pleasant working conditions and a human employer!!
Tribunals for unfair dismissal? Try going for WRONGFUL dismissal.
Some people I have spoken to seem to think that we might get an extra months pay out of them for the lack of notice given, on top of our rather pityful redundancy of 1 week for every year (providing you've been there 2 years+)
However I am sure RA did his homework! We'll see, I'm taking my contract into the C.A.B and will be taking some free advice from a very experienced solicitor. Rest assured it will cost me nothing but if I can get more money then I will and so should everyone else in the same boat.
I feel sorry for the good people left there, they won't get anything...other than the chance to reapply for their jobs. And lets face it who wants to work for that bunch. Tahir Mohsan?! lol. Just a little scouring of the web and you'll see how he likes to treat his staff...and its not pretty. Those people left are worth more, get out and get a job for a better company.
Finally, I heard RA and the new bunch of crooks were ALL SMILES going into HQ this morning...all getting out of their nice posh cars. They must think they got off lightly and the hard work is done.
Spare a thought for the rest of us having to go through the indignity of claiming benefits while we look for jobs. Thanks for the memories.
RA you should have given us notice of what was going on.
I appreciate you were caught between a rock and a hard place, but you could've just given us an inkling and this would have given us the time we needed. I have massive respect for you for building up Evesham Technology from its humble beginnings...
However you have HURT alot of LOYAL,hardworking staff that were prepared to go that extra mile for you. I hope that this poor show stays with you for a long long time. Some of us here are on the breadline and DON'T HAVE ANYTHING.
All we needed was some notice, it wasn't much to ask.
Now that I have been made redundant, I would like to set the record straight about Richard Austin and Evesham Micros (Evesham Technology).
First of all, it is wrong to blame Richard for "relying too much" on HCI. The government HAD made a commitment on HCI, which it broke. You can't blame Richard for taking advantage of it.
Yes, HCI was flawed right from the start, in it's assumption that there is so great a "benefit" in people owning a personal computer that a "socialist" government needs to (indirectly) subsidise it. But we did not just sell personal computers, we made them as well. Production requires a lot of "risky" initial investment. Richard obviously had made an investment decision at the time, on the reasonable assumption that any decrease in the consumer market share due to saturation by "box shifters" like PC World (or Tesco!) could be compensated for by switching to HCI. This assumption proved to be correct - up until the point HCI was stopped.
Yes, whenever Brad Walker gave us our HCI "projected sales" figures at crew meetings, I expressed my reservations. But these were more to do with the scheme itself, and the potential for underestimating any resulting "support" costs, not our decision to take advantage of it. And to be fair, until this year, Richard had proved time and time again that he could continue to be successful and competent director and manager, when so many of his competitors had failed.
Yes, it was more than just HCI that killed the company. With hindsight, perhaps we should have pursued our "TV monitor" and "e-box" (our home PC & set top box combination) products more aggressively - I said as much in the last crew meeting. But this would have exposed us to even greater risks if we miscalculated either the markup or the product. And even if the after sales support costs were not the final nail in the coffin (as I suspect them to have been), we still had to pay production employees higher wages than they would get if they worked in China or Turkey, and to pay for a higher level of after sales support than a customer would get from a box shifter.
My point is this - it is easy enough for you to blame Richard, just as it is easy for me to say to Richard now that he should never have let Brad Walker run his company, or relied too much on a "socialist" government to keep it's promises. But at least he made the effort to continue to compete in a "globalized" market, where the Chinese and Turks work for lower wages, and where Tesco can sell standardised "boxes" supported only by a premium rate telephone number.
Yes, I lost my job today. But just ask yourself this. What happens when NOTHING is MADE in the UK, because "globalized" labour costs are too high? What happens when the ONLY place you can buy anything is either Tesco or Amazon? Or when ALL "after sales support" is "contracted out" to India? Or when NOTHING manufactured is ever FIXED, just thrown away? We can't ALL work for the government or stack shelves in Tesco. Some of us have to take risks.
And so I CAN forgive Richard - even if I have to fight for my redundancy pay. As everyone who knows vig@evesham.com knows, my motto is "it could be worse".
It is up to the management of a company to manage the company. If something goes wrong, it is up to them to sort it. To have funds ready to take it through hard times.
No one doubts that Richard has done well. I have been involved with Eveshm Micros from the very early days, so can comment on this. Taking it from Freeze Machine through Atart/Amiga , Zydec stuff, Vale Pcs to the present has been an achievement. However the company still went down. Action should have been taken log ago. If staff needed to be trimmed it should have been done long ago and with fair payment to them.
The Shops should have been closed long ago or even not opened in the first place. The real money has always come from the Mail order / internet. Not the shops. ( Sorry no disrespect to the good staff in retails here). Again, with the money due paid.
The Sham on Friday cannot be justified. it was pure evil. looks at it this way Vig. You have been their 15 years .. dont you diserve more ??? We are taking about real people here .... people with bills, and worse still Kids to feed and cloth ( Sept going back to school).
However I think that everyone here will have the last laff, as I think Richard will become victim to this as well. The Time Brothers will end up taking him for every penny they can get. They will take what is left of Evesham and spit him and his mates out. He may not end up at the Dole office, but it will cost him in the end. I promise. Just bide your time.
You have a choice wether to read these comments or not. If you don't like then don't read.
The fact of the matter is alot of Evesham Employees were escorted off the premises and our emails cut off...this is one of few ways we can communicate and air our views until something more official is set up.
We're obvioulsy sorry for inconveniencing you Karim.
Really tragic to see this happen as a customer of Eveshams for about 6 years - 2 PC's and a notebook in that time - but just to say two things - (1) the staff helped keep the quality in the brand and (2) instead of 'fighting' for redundancies individual consider a class action - much more 'poke' that way!
Website. with contact details for the Administrators Leonard Curtis.
I suggest you start phoning them asking for answers
As also should any customers with outstanding orders / repairs
http://www.leonardcurtis.co.uk/index.html
Regarding the payments, at Time eventually everyone got redundancy payments through the DTI. Also the GMB union took the company to court in an undefended case and claimed for the lack of consultation prior to redundancy. The GMB won the case for their members, who got an additional payoff - unfortunately the rest didn't. However the principle applies - you should be able to get a protective award as compensation for the lack of consultancy IN ADDITION to redundancy. I strongly suggest you all put together a collective joint claim to court through one set of solicitors.
I have worked closely with many of the guys and girls @ Evesham and when i found out from an associate a few months back that thngs weren't quite right i had feared the worse.
Now that time has come I have pure sympatathy with all the work force. I have been this same position so i know how you guys feel, it know its not a nice feeling but you will come out the other end wiser and in some ways a better person.
1) Evesham Technology Ltd is bankrupt, so how the Fook is it still on the website as the trading as company ? Surely if its gone bust how can it still be trading ?
2) Has anyone started organising a website / forum, or the class suit against evilsham ?
I would just like to express my sympathies to those who have lost their jobs and to say thanks for the excellent support and service as a customer of many years.
Guess my PC (bought a month ago) will be my last Evesham............Oh and I don't suppose the technician will be calling tomorrow to sort out the overheating problem!!!!!
:: Outstanding pay (whether or not they'll be paid from 1st Aug to present)
:: Why they are retained, for what purpose.
:: How long they are to be retained
:: How long administration period will last.
Word has been passed down from RA that no further redundancies will be made. However nothing in writing has been given to confirm this; doing nothing to repair the serious trust deficiency.
Of course, without the "retained", the shell that is the present Evesham Technology would crumble in on itself. It is therefore in RA's interest to give this vague assurance of no further loss of staff, so that whatever job the retained are there for, is completed and RA may close whatever deal is being or has been cooked up with TimeUK.
Without RA's committal to paper the staff feel they are being used further. And the 6 weeks of hell (prior to administration) where no communication and no assurances (or even hints) materialised, quite unfairly continues to drag on making for an extremely unmotivated, unenthusiastic, dejected workforce.
The feeling is that the retained are there for one purpose. Sort the crap. Then say hello to redundancy too.
The GMB will be outside ET HQ at 8.15am tomorrow morning.
They are looking for 50% of the employees to join to give them automatic right of entrance to the offices - they can then start supporting the staff and help us get what is owed to us.
So please please either join them tomorrow morning and join the union then or join online at www.gmb.org.uk
I have used the GMB before with an employer who refused to pay me what i was owed - needless to say within 48 hours of me contacting them i had all money owed and an apology!
For less than a tenner a month it is well worth it!
would anyone in their right mind want to stay there...
for a start it sounds extremely illegal what they did in telling x amount of people they had jobs still and the rest of us got dumped on our backsides without any consultation period or from what it seems, notice/redundancy pay. Claiming the company was in administration - how then Mr Austin, did you maintain 100+ staff.
and as someone has said, there is no mention of Evesham being insolvent anywhere, and the fact that they tried to release press statements to the effect of a "reorganisation" so as to try and protect their ONCE respectfull image - all wreeks of dodgy dealings.
and trust me, Evesham never were good at "playing by the rules" generally not through their decisions but more so their own incompetence!
the day showrooms closed down, 2 branches were closed citing the company had gone into administration around 11am Friday 3rd August.
they were then re-opened 10-15 minutes later and told it was all a "mistake" and to continue trading.
Has anyone told Catalist? The much hyped Public Sector supply accreditation (which was also going to save the company). I suspect they would be interested in recent developments, I think they might just take Evesham/Geemore of the list.(and who could blame them).
What deeply saddens me is that on Friday, the people involved in the change to "Geemore"/Evesham Technology cynically used the press to mislead future and past customers- the press release wasn't worded to give information but to obscure the real situation-
How can you throw a lifeline to a "new" company? Maybe I'm tired and upset but this piece of "good news" hides the fact that basically Evesham is now Time in all but name but the release makes it seem as if the good 'ole company soliders on-whihc is doesn't if Evesham can't stand up and say without prevarication that all warranties will be honoured.
C'est la vie, no doubt in a week or so this will all just be history-be interesting to see if PC Pro et al withdraw the gongs for support awards- after all, it's not Geemore who won them- might just cause some concern to the editors to know that their awards will be used in this way- but then again, they're all struggling in the market, so I doubt it!
this is purely down to mismanagement from the board.
HCI was a great inititive but PC companies got greedy and abused the scheme, it was meant for selling PC's to workers so they could expand their IT knowledge, but suppliers (evesham included) started taking the pi$$ and were supplying flat screen TV's, PDA's, and all sorts of non intended equipment.
Stand up Mr Austin and admit you failed your company, your employees and your customers, you have treated people that gave everything to your company like dogshit on your shoe, at least have the guts to admit you failed.
Setting up with a couple of cowboys is disgraceful, you should have had the decency to go down with your ship
Well i dnt know what to say really i was gob smaked when i walked in to work today to see the offices with less than 10 people on the after sales care lines.
It really showed me how bad it really was and it also sunk in how many of my friends where lost to fridays events. all i can say its its a shock to the system that a lot of good people who had familiys to support lost there jobs.
I do really feel for them and i hope this all gets sorted ASAP.
Interesting point for all ex-employees.... The letter we got from the solicitors now in charge (?) is invalid and out of date. I have this confirmed by an independant solicitor... The listed amounts for redundancy pay and the method/time scale for claims is inaccurate, and new guidlines made earlier this year are in our favour...
VAT registration applied for. Well for a normal company thats an eight week minimum wait at present, But for an IT company - especially one whose (new) investors have been subject to carousel fraud investigations in the past (though never proven) that will take more like eight months to be approved. I don't see Evesham doing much trading for a while - unless through one of the brother's existing companies.
OGCbuyingsolutions who operate the Catalist agreement have already suspended Evesham Technology from the contract and will probably terminate it as Geemore Technology are not the original contract winners
Hey - sorry to hear about this horrible situation and just to let you know that Cristie in Stroud is looking for experienced IT sales people (preferably data storage related) and support staff. Please email me at ianc@cristie.co.uk if you are interested.
I left Evesham a long time ago. I have had several IT Jobs since then. So I am not directly part of this. However, IT is one industry, and one that has had its fair shair of Job losses.
People who are not involved are interested in what happens to fellow IT Proffesionals. In short it is not a crime to care .. is it ? These people are sharing their experiances. So where is the issue.
We should be helping our own here .. and not making childish Job Centre posts.
So stop this right now. Grow up and show some compassion.
I just hope that you dont have to go through shocking experiance that the Evesham crew have.
Look guys, Karim is telling us all to go to the job centre isn't he helpful?!
Once again, this is a place for former/current Evesham Technology employees and friends to air their views on the article and the company until an official forum is set up. Don't worry we'll be out of your way very soon.
Karim - You seem to dislike this idea or it offends you? Perhaps you'd like to explain your hostility. No one here has said they expect to find 'help' ???
Oh, and I don't think anyone who likes Batman comics, "especially ones with Superman in them" should be calling anyone "child" either.
A quick google of your name shows that you like to post your opinions about everything on everything....too much time on your hands...and too many opinions that we are not interested in....opinions are like a**holes everybody has one.
BTW i see from another post you don't like living in scotland, and have lived else where...do us all a favour and move
Good luck to all you boys and girls who were shafted on friday, let's make them pay for what they did
Karim, you're comments are not welcome on this thread and you are showing yourself quite frankly as a despicable human being. People here are left wondering where their next pay cheque is going to come from, many with children to feed, partners to support and mortgages/rent to pay with no notice of redundancy. If they wish to post about it who are you to complain?!
Its so easy for people to sit here behind their computer and make smarmy comments about heading to your nearest job centre. You google mapped it. Very funny. Adds a whole new dimension to a rather tired old joke eh? Let me tell you now many of us were their first thing Monday because we do not wish to have to claim benefits the likes of which you're paying towards in taxes (or maybe not)
In my experience of forums wind up merchants like yourself (possibly a result of short man syndrome..well, short something syndrome anyway) are the first to start complaining when things turn around on you and the shit hits the fan! Don't you deny it now 'mate'.
I wish the former employees of Evesham Technology all the best with their job hunt. TJ
Register
Troubled British PC maker Evesham Technology has been thrown a $22m lifeline by TimeUK founder, Tahir Mohsan. Evesham, which blamed the closure of the government-backed Home Computing Initiative (HCI) for landing it in financial hot water, said most of its stores will close under the restructure. The Evesham-based firm has 16 …
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A Customer
I've just dropped my £3000 computer at Evesham for repair. Ever since the original purchase back in April I have found support to be very poor. I am now concerned what will happen to my computer??? No one at the main office showroom in Evesham mentioned anything about what was happening. I feel really sorry for you guys.
eveSHAMbles
Having been at Evesham for the last three years, its a real shame how it all ended.
I'm sure Richard tried his best, but unfortunately the PC market is volatile and we just couldn't keep up. A lot of posters are conveniently ignoring the fact that we got payed a week early by Richard to ensure that we were payed for July.
However, the way the whole administration was conducted was clandestine, to say the least. Endless speculation during the last 2 months was the worst with the rumour mill being in full operation.
Recivieng an email at 4:25p.m directing half your team to the canteen and the other half downstairs.
Shutting off the email servers at 4:30 and having an administrator with short-man syndrome keeping it short (sic) by telling you to collect your belongings and leave the building with 5 minute notice was a bit difficult to stomach.
Made so many good friends at Evesham and its those who will be missed the most.
I hope for all the best to everyone I worked with and for the few guys still at the SHAM, hope it works out for you.
What happens next?
My mother worked at Evesham for over 10 years and yesterday, like many of her colleagues, was suddenly told she no longer had a job (although her Manager didn't even have the decency to tell her face to face and only called her on her mobile after much cajolling by her colleagues on site).
It appears that the staff were sent X Factor style into two rooms to await their fate with one being the "Winning room" (ha ha) and keeping their jobs and the other employees being told to leave almost immediately. Surely, if the company has been put into administration, as stated by RA, how can certain employees be retained and others told to leave when no appropriate consultation period or selection process for redundancy had taken place previously. Who decided which employees stayed and which didn't and upon which set of criteria was this based upon according to appropriate employment law? Who will the employees be working for from Monday and will they need to reapply for their own jobs?
So many questions... but what I really feel is that those employees who have been so badly let down should not give up and roll over. Let Richard Austin and his merry men know exactly what a mistake they made in treating such loyal staff so badly by showing them what you are capable of. Why not jointly appoint a legal representative to advise upon the legality of these actions? Set up a pressure group, contact local and national media, whistleblow and tell your stories. Do not let this lie and do not allow the Directors to walk away and continue to trade upon the good Evesham name - let it become synonymous with underhanded dealings, lies and deceit from a Management that should have known better and should have done much more to protect its loyal staff.
Questions
So a few questions
1) Were any of the staff in a union? If so which one, and are they on the case?
2) Have you heard anything from the DTI about redundancy payments? You should have been given claim forms to fill in. Have you? If not get onto the DTI urgently
3) Who are the administrators? So far I've not seen them identified anywhere.
Another Ex-Employee
As an ex-after sales support technician (tech support) dealing with the more tricky issues, I can safely say that it's unsurprising that the company had ended this way.
Constant releases of products that were basically un-fit for the intent in which they were sold, with little or no information about said products given to anyone in tech. In fact, only really the product managers ever got to see the products before our customers did, oh apart from the people who packed them into the boxes.
QA checks before equipment was sent out were non-existant, bad components were continuosly used (and sold) with known problems that *would* affect customers, presumably due to some cushy deal with said suppliers. R+D were completely unable to do their jobs and completely over-ruled by the profit margin. I personally was a specialist for one product, that I'd never even used .. we ended up learning more about our products from customers than from any internal source, not that the more senior technicians didn't try, but they were so bogged down with bereaucracy and an almost conspiratorial veil of secrecy over any information that could prove to be useful that they simply could not perform the job which they were aiming to do.
So essentially a company reliant on it's image was forced into selling inferior products coupled with an under-equipped after-sales department collapsed, as it was inevitably going to do in most people's eyes, and especially at the Director / MD level ..
Which is such an incredible waste as there were some truly talented people in tech support and across the whole company, a great bunch of people, united in the face of adversity until the end, unfortunately they've all been totally bitchslapped by the very hand that fed them.
I just hope that everyone can move on to other jobs and stay in contact with each other, and to all the ex and current employees of Evesham Technology Ltd - Nill Illigitimi Carborundum.
To the author of life in the PC Business
You ar right the margins in the PC industry are incredibly tight and the whole product area is a nightmare to try to deal in.
However - Evesham had diversified into TVs, PVRs etc to broaden their market and continue to bring in much needed cash and i for one know that although the margins may not have been earth shattering they were still good.
I think the problem most ex and current employees have is the shabby way the whole fiasco has been handled, to be herded into the staff canteen like a load of slaughterhouse cattle to be informed that they no longer had jobs was diabolical - where was the loyalty in that - these staff have been working their socks off in very trying circumstances to try to save not only their own jobs, but also the reputation of Evesham and to try to ensure that customers received the goods and services they had paid for - you have no idea how hard it was to try to explain to customers that we had no idea when their PC or TV would be with them and then watch critical components and hundreds of peripherals ship to Time's warehouse was annoying to say the least. The number of understandably irate people i have had to talk to recently is terrifying, i began to dread the phone ringing because whilst i could empathise with the customers i also did not deserve the amount of verbal abuse i receieved, especially when requests for senior management to contact some of the larger customers were ignored.
Yes Richard built the company from scratch and put a lot of effort into it's continued growth, but take a look at the real picture - i doubt he will be worrying where his next pay packet is coming from, whether he can clothe his children or even pay the mortgage next month and i very much doubt he will be off to the job centre on Monday to join the queue of people looking for a new job - on the contrary i am sure he will have ensured that his back is covered.
Disgusting
As a former manager I can tell you that HCI had an effect but it was not to solely to blame. All the directors played part, not just RA. More than anything he is guilty of letting a people run his company into the ground! The directors have all done a very poor job for the last 2 years. They have talked an awful lot about great plans and delivered nothing. The board has not been able to manage business sales properly for 4 or so years. Last count was 5 or 6 assorted managers and directors over the period and a steady decline. HCI was the great saviour and when that went the idea was to base everything we did on the HCI model because that was the great saviour. HCI HCI HCI… What a load of bollocks. They have just made one poor decision after another dating back to before Mertec was purchased.
All the directors were paid out a month ago and you can be sure the man at the top is not going to struggle. Hang your heads directors! I would also suggest not showing your faces around Evesham town for a while.
The last 2 months and Friday’s fiasco were disgusting and unforgivable.
I have one suggestion to the staff still there. Get Organised! Don’t take their rubbish! And get out as soon as you can!
Good luck
Firstly I would like to say good luck to everyone that has gone, there ARE better jobs out there, where you WILL get better paid and get YEARLY salary increases
Any staff that are left will need to seek assurances that there is money to pay them, they should also be asked if they want to carry on working for this "sham" of a company and if they don't they too should be given redundancy
Notice on the Door (Sunday)
I was in Vale park, and passed by Eve, it was all deserted and shuttered up. There was a notice on the door.
Important Notice, Apologies due to low staff levels(due to annual leave) Evesham showroom will be closed Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th. We are open as usual on Monday the 6th. Sorry for any inconveience.
And as per another comment the mail servers are off.
this was the bounce, from a email sent to evesham.showroom@evesham.com via www.
This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.
Delivery to the following recipients failed.
Jam<snip>@evesham.com
Jon<snip>@evesham.com
Kar<snip>@evesham.com
Ada<snip>@evesham.com
Ric<snip>@evesham.com
DTI etc
lol no claim forms, nothing, the bailiffs turned up to close the branches and do stock counts, that was it.
If RA also took a group of people to one side at Evesham and basically told them that they've all got jobs, whilst the rest of the company 200-300+, were dumped on their backsides through administration - then I think he has a lot of industrial tribunals coming his way for unfair dismissal.
Life after Evesham
I suffered a similar blow at Elonex last year - the circumstances were remarkably similar - only the owner in that case didn't even have the guts to turn up the day it closed down. All I can add is a reassurance that the government's Redundancy Service were quick to pay the statutory redundancy money - but only after the statutory notice period had expired - in my case I was entitled to 7 weeks notice (after 7 years service) and my cheque arrived in week 8 after the shut-down. Another tip is to immediately look at any household insurance you may have that gives you free legal representation - and immediately ask them to consider your case for unfair dismissal due to lack of notice and for the lack of consultation over redundancy. You may then get something extra back after a long delay - my case has still not paid out after a year but a judgement has already been made in my favour by the Unfair Dismissal Tribunal. The sequence of payout has been: statutory minimum redundancy from the Redundancy Service; preferred creditor payout of any extra holiday pay and pay-in-lieu-of-notice when the company is liquidated; non-preferred creditor status for any unfair dismissal payment when Tribunal finally gives a judgement against the liquidated assets. All-in-all a poor substitute for fair treatment by the state and Evesham - but be quick to get over it and move on to another job. I was fortunate enough to find a job in another industry after 7 weeks (one that wasn't in a declining sector like PCs) and now enjoy annual pay rises, pleasant working conditions and a human employer!!
RE: Questions
In answer to your questions Tibb the cat,
1) Most unlikely, we worked for a majority of the time for love.
2) My forms have already gone in
3) Leonard Curtis
RA all smiles this morning...
Tribunals for unfair dismissal? Try going for WRONGFUL dismissal.
Some people I have spoken to seem to think that we might get an extra months pay out of them for the lack of notice given, on top of our rather pityful redundancy of 1 week for every year (providing you've been there 2 years+)
However I am sure RA did his homework! We'll see, I'm taking my contract into the C.A.B and will be taking some free advice from a very experienced solicitor. Rest assured it will cost me nothing but if I can get more money then I will and so should everyone else in the same boat.
I feel sorry for the good people left there, they won't get anything...other than the chance to reapply for their jobs. And lets face it who wants to work for that bunch. Tahir Mohsan?! lol. Just a little scouring of the web and you'll see how he likes to treat his staff...and its not pretty. Those people left are worth more, get out and get a job for a better company.
Finally, I heard RA and the new bunch of crooks were ALL SMILES going into HQ this morning...all getting out of their nice posh cars. They must think they got off lightly and the hard work is done.
Spare a thought for the rest of us having to go through the indignity of claiming benefits while we look for jobs. Thanks for the memories.
Lost respect
RA you should have given us notice of what was going on.
I appreciate you were caught between a rock and a hard place, but you could've just given us an inkling and this would have given us the time we needed. I have massive respect for you for building up Evesham Technology from its humble beginnings...
However you have HURT alot of LOYAL,hardworking staff that were prepared to go that extra mile for you. I hope that this poor show stays with you for a long long time. Some of us here are on the breadline and DON'T HAVE ANYTHING.
All we needed was some notice, it wasn't much to ask.
Beware Evesham employees...
Time phuqed over Tiny employees and they'll do the same to you.
Get out now!
Evesham
Well, they're still taking calls... just got through to domestic sales, 'Matt speaking'.
Whats going on??
15+ year Evesham ex-employee comment
Now that I have been made redundant, I would like to set the record straight about Richard Austin and Evesham Micros (Evesham Technology).
First of all, it is wrong to blame Richard for "relying too much" on HCI. The government HAD made a commitment on HCI, which it broke. You can't blame Richard for taking advantage of it.
Yes, HCI was flawed right from the start, in it's assumption that there is so great a "benefit" in people owning a personal computer that a "socialist" government needs to (indirectly) subsidise it. But we did not just sell personal computers, we made them as well. Production requires a lot of "risky" initial investment. Richard obviously had made an investment decision at the time, on the reasonable assumption that any decrease in the consumer market share due to saturation by "box shifters" like PC World (or Tesco!) could be compensated for by switching to HCI. This assumption proved to be correct - up until the point HCI was stopped.
Yes, whenever Brad Walker gave us our HCI "projected sales" figures at crew meetings, I expressed my reservations. But these were more to do with the scheme itself, and the potential for underestimating any resulting "support" costs, not our decision to take advantage of it. And to be fair, until this year, Richard had proved time and time again that he could continue to be successful and competent director and manager, when so many of his competitors had failed.
Yes, it was more than just HCI that killed the company. With hindsight, perhaps we should have pursued our "TV monitor" and "e-box" (our home PC & set top box combination) products more aggressively - I said as much in the last crew meeting. But this would have exposed us to even greater risks if we miscalculated either the markup or the product. And even if the after sales support costs were not the final nail in the coffin (as I suspect them to have been), we still had to pay production employees higher wages than they would get if they worked in China or Turkey, and to pay for a higher level of after sales support than a customer would get from a box shifter.
My point is this - it is easy enough for you to blame Richard, just as it is easy for me to say to Richard now that he should never have let Brad Walker run his company, or relied too much on a "socialist" government to keep it's promises. But at least he made the effort to continue to compete in a "globalized" market, where the Chinese and Turks work for lower wages, and where Tesco can sell standardised "boxes" supported only by a premium rate telephone number.
Yes, I lost my job today. But just ask yourself this. What happens when NOTHING is MADE in the UK, because "globalized" labour costs are too high? What happens when the ONLY place you can buy anything is either Tesco or Amazon? Or when ALL "after sales support" is "contracted out" to India? Or when NOTHING manufactured is ever FIXED, just thrown away? We can't ALL work for the government or stack shelves in Tesco. Some of us have to take risks.
And so I CAN forgive Richard - even if I have to fight for my redundancy pay. As everyone who knows vig@evesham.com knows, my motto is "it could be worse".
Evesham...
i'm sorry - but this affects us how?
I didnt know the register was to become a shouting box for the unemployed.
Take it to the dole office, or industrial tribunal. Evesham shedding its UK staff has no implications to the IT world.
Vig - Make up and smell the Coffe.
You miss the point tottally here.
It is up to the management of a company to manage the company. If something goes wrong, it is up to them to sort it. To have funds ready to take it through hard times.
No one doubts that Richard has done well. I have been involved with Eveshm Micros from the very early days, so can comment on this. Taking it from Freeze Machine through Atart/Amiga , Zydec stuff, Vale Pcs to the present has been an achievement. However the company still went down. Action should have been taken log ago. If staff needed to be trimmed it should have been done long ago and with fair payment to them.
The Shops should have been closed long ago or even not opened in the first place. The real money has always come from the Mail order / internet. Not the shops. ( Sorry no disrespect to the good staff in retails here). Again, with the money due paid.
The Sham on Friday cannot be justified. it was pure evil. looks at it this way Vig. You have been their 15 years .. dont you diserve more ??? We are taking about real people here .... people with bills, and worse still Kids to feed and cloth ( Sept going back to school).
However I think that everyone here will have the last laff, as I think Richard will become victim to this as well. The Time Brothers will end up taking him for every penny they can get. They will take what is left of Evesham and spit him and his mates out. He may not end up at the Dole office, but it will cost him in the end. I promise. Just bide your time.
TFM
Karim
You have a choice wether to read these comments or not. If you don't like then don't read.
The fact of the matter is alot of Evesham Employees were escorted off the premises and our emails cut off...this is one of few ways we can communicate and air our views until something more official is set up.
We're obvioulsy sorry for inconveniencing you Karim.
Real Tragedy
Really tragic to see this happen as a customer of Eveshams for about 6 years - 2 PC's and a notebook in that time - but just to say two things - (1) the staff helped keep the quality in the brand and (2) instead of 'fighting' for redundancies individual consider a class action - much more 'poke' that way!
Pete
Leonard Curtis website
Website. with contact details for the Administrators Leonard Curtis.
I suggest you start phoning them asking for answers
As also should any customers with outstanding orders / repairs
http://www.leonardcurtis.co.uk/index.html
Regarding the payments, at Time eventually everyone got redundancy payments through the DTI. Also the GMB union took the company to court in an undefended case and claimed for the lack of consultation prior to redundancy. The GMB won the case for their members, who got an additional payoff - unfortunately the rest didn't. However the principle applies - you should be able to get a protective award as compensation for the lack of consultancy IN ADDITION to redundancy. I strongly suggest you all put together a collective joint claim to court through one set of solicitors.
Heart felt words
I have worked closely with many of the guys and girls @ Evesham and when i found out from an associate a few months back that thngs weren't quite right i had feared the worse.
Now that time has come I have pure sympatathy with all the work force. I have been this same position so i know how you guys feel, it know its not a nice feeling but you will come out the other end wiser and in some ways a better person.
Good Luck to you all. My thoughts are with you.
Rip off Richard
Can anyone answer 2 questions for me.
1) Evesham Technology Ltd is bankrupt, so how the Fook is it still on the website as the trading as company ? Surely if its gone bust how can it still be trading ?
2) Has anyone started organising a website / forum, or the class suit against evilsham ?
Indeed...
Someone do it and then we can get this going! :)
GeeMore Technology
have a look at about us on the evesham website right at the bottom you'll see
GeeMore Technology Ltd t/a Evesham Technology. Registered Number 6319550. VAT Registration applied for
Condolences
I would just like to express my sympathies to those who have lost their jobs and to say thanks for the excellent support and service as a customer of many years.
Guess my PC (bought a month ago) will be my last Evesham............Oh and I don't suppose the technician will be calling tomorrow to sort out the overheating problem!!!!!
Eric
The retained
Still have no written confirmation of:
:: Outstanding pay (whether or not they'll be paid from 1st Aug to present)
:: Why they are retained, for what purpose.
:: How long they are to be retained
:: How long administration period will last.
Word has been passed down from RA that no further redundancies will be made. However nothing in writing has been given to confirm this; doing nothing to repair the serious trust deficiency.
Of course, without the "retained", the shell that is the present Evesham Technology would crumble in on itself. It is therefore in RA's interest to give this vague assurance of no further loss of staff, so that whatever job the retained are there for, is completed and RA may close whatever deal is being or has been cooked up with TimeUK.
Without RA's committal to paper the staff feel they are being used further. And the 6 weeks of hell (prior to administration) where no communication and no assurances (or even hints) materialised, quite unfairly continues to drag on making for an extremely unmotivated, unenthusiastic, dejected workforce.
The feeling is that the retained are there for one purpose. Sort the crap. Then say hello to redundancy too.
Forum...
Is on it's way so we can take this off of the register's servers...
Guys
The GMB will be outside ET HQ at 8.15am tomorrow morning.
They are looking for 50% of the employees to join to give them automatic right of entrance to the offices - they can then start supporting the staff and help us get what is owed to us.
So please please either join them tomorrow morning and join the union then or join online at www.gmb.org.uk
I have used the GMB before with an employer who refused to pay me what i was owed - needless to say within 48 hours of me contacting them i had all money owed and an apology!
For less than a tenner a month it is well worth it!
Why...
would anyone in their right mind want to stay there...
for a start it sounds extremely illegal what they did in telling x amount of people they had jobs still and the rest of us got dumped on our backsides without any consultation period or from what it seems, notice/redundancy pay. Claiming the company was in administration - how then Mr Austin, did you maintain 100+ staff.
and as someone has said, there is no mention of Evesham being insolvent anywhere, and the fact that they tried to release press statements to the effect of a "reorganisation" so as to try and protect their ONCE respectfull image - all wreeks of dodgy dealings.
and trust me, Evesham never were good at "playing by the rules" generally not through their decisions but more so their own incompetence!
the day showrooms closed down, 2 branches were closed citing the company had gone into administration around 11am Friday 3rd August.
they were then re-opened 10-15 minutes later and told it was all a "mistake" and to continue trading.
they couldn't even get that part right.
Catalist
Has anyone told Catalist? The much hyped Public Sector supply accreditation (which was also going to save the company). I suspect they would be interested in recent developments, I think they might just take Evesham/Geemore of the list.(and who could blame them).
Interesting how the press can be manipulated
What deeply saddens me is that on Friday, the people involved in the change to "Geemore"/Evesham Technology cynically used the press to mislead future and past customers- the press release wasn't worded to give information but to obscure the real situation-
How can you throw a lifeline to a "new" company? Maybe I'm tired and upset but this piece of "good news" hides the fact that basically Evesham is now Time in all but name but the release makes it seem as if the good 'ole company soliders on-whihc is doesn't if Evesham can't stand up and say without prevarication that all warranties will be honoured.
C'est la vie, no doubt in a week or so this will all just be history-be interesting to see if PC Pro et al withdraw the gongs for support awards- after all, it's not Geemore who won them- might just cause some concern to the editors to know that their awards will be used in this way- but then again, they're all struggling in the market, so I doubt it!
Stop blaming HCI
this is purely down to mismanagement from the board.
HCI was a great inititive but PC companies got greedy and abused the scheme, it was meant for selling PC's to workers so they could expand their IT knowledge, but suppliers (evesham included) started taking the pi$$ and were supplying flat screen TV's, PDA's, and all sorts of non intended equipment.
Stand up Mr Austin and admit you failed your company, your employees and your customers, you have treated people that gave everything to your company like dogshit on your shoe, at least have the guts to admit you failed.
Setting up with a couple of cowboys is disgraceful, you should have had the decency to go down with your ship
Monday
Well i dnt know what to say really i was gob smaked when i walked in to work today to see the offices with less than 10 people on the after sales care lines.
It really showed me how bad it really was and it also sunk in how many of my friends where lost to fridays events. all i can say its its a shock to the system that a lot of good people who had familiys to support lost there jobs.
I do really feel for them and i hope this all gets sorted ASAP.
Talk to you all soon guys.
Emu :)
Come on Jason
tell us how much your holding out for with the domain names!!!!!
no one _wants_ to stay there
the reasons are obvious why people have to keep going in
Delay Tactics?
for all screwed evesham staff you should get the later feb 2007 version of the form RP1 could be a delay tactic as they have sent out the older form
http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/forms/rpforms.htm
Recievership?
Interesting point for all ex-employees.... The letter we got from the solicitors now in charge (?) is invalid and out of date. I have this confirmed by an independant solicitor... The listed amounts for redundancy pay and the method/time scale for claims is inaccurate, and new guidlines made earlier this year are in our favour...
Will post more details when I know more.
my advice... PERSUE THIS INDEPENDANTLY.
VAT Registration applied for????????
VAT registration applied for. Well for a normal company thats an eight week minimum wait at present, But for an IT company - especially one whose (new) investors have been subject to carousel fraud investigations in the past (though never proven) that will take more like eight months to be approved. I don't see Evesham doing much trading for a while - unless through one of the brother's existing companies.
media interest
If you're interested in getting your stories and concerns about the collapse of the company on air call Adam at 102 Touch FM on 01789 262636
Claims etc
Guys, download the revised RP1 and guidline forms from the http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/ as they are more uptodate.
Also, make a claim for a "protective award" worth up to 8 weeks x £310 as there was no consultation whatsoever.
this can be done at
http://www.employmenttribunals.gov.uk/ as it is a separate process.
good luck
Catalist
OGCbuyingsolutions who operate the Catalist agreement have already suspended Evesham Technology from the contract and will probably terminate it as Geemore Technology are not the original contract winners
to the child...
since you expect some sort of help from a technology news website after losing your job, here you go:
http://www.multimap.com/maps/#t=l&map=52.09198,-1.9481|16|4&loc=GB:52.09198:-1.9481:16|WR11%204SA|WR11%204SA
its the nearest job center...
Job opps
Hey - sorry to hear about this horrible situation and just to let you know that Cristie in Stroud is looking for experienced IT sales people (preferably data storage related) and support staff. Please email me at ianc@cristie.co.uk if you are interested.
FAO - Karim Bourouba
Karim,
I left Evesham a long time ago. I have had several IT Jobs since then. So I am not directly part of this. However, IT is one industry, and one that has had its fair shair of Job losses.
People who are not involved are interested in what happens to fellow IT Proffesionals. In short it is not a crime to care .. is it ? These people are sharing their experiances. So where is the issue.
We should be helping our own here .. and not making childish Job Centre posts.
So stop this right now. Grow up and show some compassion.
I just hope that you dont have to go through shocking experiance that the Evesham crew have.
Respect 96.6TFM
Shame
Another one bites the dust. I had reasonable success with Evesham in the past.
Unfortunately this gives another boost to the White Goods computer sellers like PC World.
rm -Rf /Evesham
Helpful Karim
Look guys, Karim is telling us all to go to the job centre isn't he helpful?!
Once again, this is a place for former/current Evesham Technology employees and friends to air their views on the article and the company until an official forum is set up. Don't worry we'll be out of your way very soon.
Karim - You seem to dislike this idea or it offends you? Perhaps you'd like to explain your hostility. No one here has said they expect to find 'help' ???
Oh, and I don't think anyone who likes Batman comics, "especially ones with Superman in them" should be calling anyone "child" either.
Another for Karim
A quick google of your name shows that you like to post your opinions about everything on everything....too much time on your hands...and too many opinions that we are not interested in....opinions are like a**holes everybody has one.
BTW i see from another post you don't like living in scotland, and have lived else where...do us all a favour and move
Good luck to all you boys and girls who were shafted on friday, let's make them pay for what they did
All the best
Karim, you're comments are not welcome on this thread and you are showing yourself quite frankly as a despicable human being. People here are left wondering where their next pay cheque is going to come from, many with children to feed, partners to support and mortgages/rent to pay with no notice of redundancy. If they wish to post about it who are you to complain?!
Its so easy for people to sit here behind their computer and make smarmy comments about heading to your nearest job centre. You google mapped it. Very funny. Adds a whole new dimension to a rather tired old joke eh? Let me tell you now many of us were their first thing Monday because we do not wish to have to claim benefits the likes of which you're paying towards in taxes (or maybe not)
In my experience of forums wind up merchants like yourself (possibly a result of short man syndrome..well, short something syndrome anyway) are the first to start complaining when things turn around on you and the shit hits the fan! Don't you deny it now 'mate'.
I wish the former employees of Evesham Technology all the best with their job hunt. TJ
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