Britain's largest computer company shuts shops
The PC business behind The Computer Shop and the Tiny and Time brands appeared to be on the edge of collapse this morning as its stores remained closed for the second day running and the company is understood to have called in the administrators.

A spokesman for the company, known as Granville Technology, said the problems were related to 'credit card transaction problems - rather than compound this, we need to keep the stores closed'.

He refused to comment further on the situation except to confirm a statement drawn up yesterday that read: 'Granville Technology's first responsibility is to its staff and we are making no further comment at this time.'

Several directors have left the company and some staff at the factory in Burnley are understood to have been laid off. Four directors have resigned in the past six weeks, including co-founder Dr Tariq Mohammed.

The DTI confirmed it was expecting to hear this afternoon from Granville Technology, which is currently being run by non-executive chairman Bill Davies, who is listed at Companies House as having 78 other appointments. The only other director still on the board is company secretary David Ward.

The company suppies other retailers, including Tesco, Asda and Woolworths.