Cornish Guardian (St. Austell & Fowey)
Toll of lockdowns sees leading tech company go bust
ATECHNOLOGY company in South East Cornwall honoured by Queen Elizabeth II has gone bust, with its owner set to lose £150,000 he ploughed into it.
Computech IT Services Ltd has called in liquidators, just seven years after receiving the Queen’s Award for Enterprise – the most prestigious award a UK business can win.
The company, based in Saltash, was praised for its export success, particularly for selling its business management software to firms in the United States.
But Computech was hit badly during the Covid lockdowns, which stopped its team of experts meeting to brainstorm and prevented its owner travelling to explain its products to prospective customers.
Rising inflation and interest rates further damaged it, and put off potential investors from injecting much-needed cash.
It meant owner and founder Garry Thompson ended up with no option than to put his pride and joy into voluntary liquidation. He said the firm will be unable to pay off a £50,000 Covid loan, and he will lose his own cash which he had pumped into the business in a bid to keep it afloat.
Mr Thompson said: “Unfortunately, a Bounce Back Loan will not be repaid, and I am responsible for the balance of another bank loan, for which I have a personal guarantee, so, unless the bank is generous, I will somehow need to finance repayments for that.
“There may be other debts I have to support, but at this stage a great deal is unknown. Little did I know that I would be joining the throng of more than 30,000 companies to go to the wall in the last year.”
Until the pandemic struck, Computech had been one of the area’s stand-out technology company successes. It was formed by Mr Thompson in 1999, after his 17-year career in the Royal Navy and then a stint as an air traffic engineer with the Civil Aviation Authority.
The business was hit badly by the coronavirus pandemic. Mr Thompson said: “The inability to operate effectively, due to the many lockdowns, was a major element. My ability to manage the development process was severely depreciated.”
Mr Thompson added: “Over the past few years, I’ve looked for potential investors to help me out. In March 2023, I had found what I thought were investors who ticked all the boxes. However, after having signed an agreement, and giving away 20% of the shares of the company, the investors failed to come up with the goods.
“They did not deliver. Eventually, all my personal capital dried up and the company now has nearly £150,000 of my personal funds. Approaching the age of 68 this year, I now have access to no other funds.
“At the end of March 2024, I had to make a decision. There was never going to be a way to satisfy every need and I had no savings remaining to call on, so, after taking advice, the only course of action was to put the company into voluntary liquidation.”