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Group 101 – In voluntary liquidation?
Hi all
I emailed group 101 for a quote yesterday but received this response….
Hi Alex,
It’s with a heavy heart and great regret that as of Monday the 9th of April 2018 Group101 has officially ceased trading and has been placed into voluntary liquidation. Several factors have contributed to the company Directors taking this decision, but the key issues were around rapid plant and machinery expansion, the loss of several key accounts and staffing issues resulting in Group101 being in a position where it could no longer be able to carry on trading.
Anyone had a similar response?
Hope nobody has orders on with them.
Regards
Alex
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16 Replies
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Try Fulham graphics instead!! Got my quotes back today at the same price as previous orders! I’m sure James will explain to you!
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I’ve had the same email and also been told to contact Fulham graphics for future orders. If I’m honest I’m disappointed with the service I have received over the last week. nobody likes to see a company in trouble but group 101 Let me down big time this week. I tried to place a order online and was told the payment system was down and was given a direct link for payment last Tuesday. I sent my artwork over as usual and was given no indication there were any problems. I then placed a further order this Monday on the day of closure and again was told nothing. fast forward to this Tuesday , which was the day I planned to collect my first order, I called the land line and was told nobody could be contacted. I tried all day with no luck and also emailed various people at the company with no joy. same again Wednesday, so I decided to take a trip down there and boy was I shocked to find nobody was there. I spoke to the neighbours, who told me they have gone bust. I then convinced him to call the owner (name is not needed) I was told the company has gone into liquidation. I then asked why my two orders were still taken and was then told your payments were refunded and to email my queries over . after checking my bank no payments were refunded and as of yet still no response to my email. since then i have been on the phone non stop trying to get these payments returned. not to mention I have had to pay through the nose with another trade company to get my orders turned around in 1 day so my customers who had events this weekend would not lose out. the stress I’ve had these last few days to make things work were not needed. a simple message from group 101 last week would have made life so much easier. I still have not a email saying they can not Fullfill my order. I use these guys every week, I may not spend thousands but imo a little more respect could have been shown to a regular customer, in tough times or not.
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I can’t image the stress they’ve been going through.
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This is sad news. I hope James is coping OK considering.
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quote Andrew O Brien:I can’t image the stress they’ve been going through.What about the stress the poster who didnt get his jobs went through? …Just saying
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100% correct Steff. I was left with one day to solve the issue I was left with , through no fault of my own . I would have let down at least 6 customers. what would have happened to my business reputation if I would not have gone down there to check. I don’t want to come across as somebody kicking a man while he is down but as I said before I’m very disappointed I was not made aware of any issues.
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Not trying to take from that. Unfortunately the weakest link in most of our businesses is our suppliers.
Suppliers let us down from time to time. It’s how we as a sign company got into printing.
Sure they could have sent mail. Reading people’s views about Group 101 here they seemed like a fantastic company to deal with. Nobody knows in this situation how you would react.
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We only used them once for 3 routed large circles, them arrived all bashed up from the courier.
Replacements arrived a few days latter, all ok.So we had no problem with them
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I spoke with James not long ago about a cnc he posted on here for sale, seemed a nice guy & I sympathise with their predicament. As a customer it’s never good to be left high & dry by a supplier but when a business is having trouble I would only imagine your every waking hour would be spent trying to find another way out rather than shut the doors & call time. Does anyone know if they have ceased trading or starting up anew.
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We used James a few times, mainly for the odd bit of dye sub work we got asked for.
Always happy with the finished product, had to chase a few times to get prices, but they weren’t massive orders so just put it down to being small fry.
They sure had some machinery there, and I hate to think of the overheads and staffing requirements. I am sure it caused some sleepless nights and worry, and wouldn’t have been an easy choice.
I’m sure there was no intention to shaft any customers, and leave you high & dry.
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I see Fulham Graphics only started on 5th April 2018. This looks very much like packing in one company and starting up under another name. I know it happens but i have damaged signs from 101 i have been trying to get replaced. They have been ignoring me for some time now. I can now see why :shake:
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quote Ewan Chrystal:I see Fulham Graphics only started on 5th April 2018. This looks very much like packing in one company and starting up under another name. I know it happens but i have damaged signs from 101 i have been trying to get replaced. They have been ignoring me for some time now. I can now see why :shake:
I dont think this is the case, Fulham Graphics is owned by a different person altogether, but time will tell I suppose.
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Sad news, known James for a while and this couldn’t have been an easy decision to take. When you build a company from the ground up over many years, it’s never easy to let it go. Hope James is doing ok.
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quote Steff Davison:quote Ewan Chrystal:I see Fulham Graphics only started on 5th April 2018. This looks very much like packing in one company and starting up under another name. I know it happens but i have damaged signs from 101 i have been trying to get replaced. They have been ignoring me for some time now. I can now see why :shake:
I dont think this is the case, Fulham Graphics is owned by a different person altogether, but time will tell I suppose.
If you go bankrupt you cannot start another company in your name…… I think
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quote Denise Goodfellow:quote Steff Davison:quote Ewan Chrystal:I see Fulham Graphics only started on 5th April 2018. This looks very much like packing in one company and starting up under another name. I know it happens but i have damaged signs from 101 i have been trying to get replaced. They have been ignoring me for some time now. I can now see why :shake:
I dont think this is the case, Fulham Graphics is owned by a different person altogether, but time will tell I suppose.
If you go bankrupt you cannot start another company in your name…… I think
Group 101 has gone into voluntary liquidation, thats totally different to personal bankruptcy.
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Correct Steff :thumbsup:
I don’t know what’s happening with Group 101, but pre-pack administrations, and phoenix companies are entirely legal, if done correctly. Still a kick in the gut for anyone owed money, to see a company that owes them money, re-open with what appears as just a name change.
As a flip side, I’ve seen a long term supplier of ours, go into administration a few times, it ultimately resulted in them being made personally bankrupt, the business premises they owned being taken by the administrators, along with their family home.
Similarly I’ve know business owners plough £10,000’s of their own money into a business to keep it running day to day, keep their staff in work, hoping for a better day, that never came.
Again I don’t know the circumstances surrounding Group 101, I had an e-mail from James last week but no indication of this, and I am sure it wasn’t a decision taken lightly, and I hope James & his family aren’t impacted too severely.
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